Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : County Grounded in Bid to Buy Tiny Air Park : Agua Dulce: Heeding results of advisory election, Public Works Department rejects proposal.

A proposal for Los Angeles County to buy the tiny Agua Dulce Air Park was grounded Wednesday by the county Public Works Department, settling a decades-long dogfight between pilots and residents near the rustic airport.

Heeding the results of an advisory election held in Agua Dulce earlier this month, Public Works Director Harry Stone said the county should scrap efforts to buy the 36-year-old air park.

Two-thirds of the 835 voters opposed county plans to purchase 70 acres of the 208-acre site for use as a general aviation airport.

Stone’s recommendation will be forwarded in writing to the County Board of Supervisors sometime in April, said Jean Granucci, department spokeswoman.

Residents, pilots and government officials have long had different ideas for the facility, which is up for sale.

County officials want a general aviation facility near the ever-growing Santa Clarita Valley, but many of Agua Dulce’s 2,100 residents want the air park to either close or, at least, remain a small facility surrounded by undeveloped rural land.

Pilots say county ownership would keep the airport from closing and prevent it from being turned into development property. But those living near the airport fear county ownership would bring more planes, traffic and noise.

Supporters of the buyout were disappointed by the election’s outcome. They say it’s now only a matter of time until the airport is shut down.

“A number of us in the community have been working for years on an emergency response plan that centered on the air park,” said Stewart Aleshire. “It looks like that disaster plan is now out the window.”

Residents “thought they were voting about whether to have the county purchase the airport,” Aleshire said. “Actually, what they were voting on was whether or not to have an airport.”

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The Public Works Department recommendation Wednesday followed a surprise move by the county’s advisory aviation panel. The seven-member Los Angeles County Aviation Commission, which asked county supervisors to hold the election, failed to recommend whether the county should pursue or abandon efforts to buy the air park.

Panel members “just felt it wasn’t necessary to take any action one way or the other,” said Commissioner Jim Burton. Referring to this month’s election, he said: “There was a vote where a majority, nearly two-thirds of them, said ‘No, we don’t want county ownership.’ ”

The inaction “probably does something less than resolve the issue for forever and eternity,” Burton admitted.

The failure of the commission to support or oppose the proposed purchase of the air park clearly surprised officials who had for years explored the option of county ownership of the airport.

“We were amazed. We were stunned,” said Dave Vannatta, an aide to Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the Agua Dulce area. “It was their advice to have that advisory election.”

He said Antonovich, long a supporter of buying the air park, would abide by the Public Works Department’s recommendation and the results of the election this month.

Agua Dulce Air Park has been controversial since it was built in 1959 for the use of three businessmen, who later tried to expand it.

The city of Los Angeles leased the facility from 1968 to 1978, but backed off plans to use it as an auxiliary to Van Nuys Airport because of community opposition.