Torrance council gives final OK to cap on flight schools

The City Council this week unanimously approved the second and final reading of an ordinance that codified into law the six flight school limit at Torrance’s municipal airport.

The ordinance formalizes a resolution enacted in 1977 that limits the number of flight schools allowed to operate at Zamperini Field to six. The city has used the ordinance as its basis for denying Sling Pilot Academy’s appeal to reverse Torrance staffer’s decision not to renew its license for 2024.

The ordinance will become effective 30 days after its adoption, which was on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

There are currently 10 flight schools at the airport, each operating under an annually renewable business license, meaning there are four too many — and Sling Pilot Academy is one of them.

The flight schools have been a key source of concerns among residents regarding aircraft noise,.

After the city’s rejected Sling Pilot Academy’s appeal, the school brought a case in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Dec. 18. In court documents, lawyers for the school argued that the city did not have the legal authority to regulate flying aircraft. Only the Federal Aviation Administration, the school argued, has such rights.

The city’s attorneys, though, have said the FAA does not preempt Torrance’s regulations over the number of flight schools. The city, they say, has the constitutional police powers to regulate businesses within its jurisdiction.

Sling secured a temporary restraining order against Torrance on Dec. 21, which prevented the city from denying its business license renewal until its next court hearing. The ruling came just a few days after the city adopted the first reading of the ordinance to formalize the 1977 resolution into law. The passage of the ordinance ensures that the flight school limit is formally incorporated into city law before businesses can renew their licenses for 2024, Torrance officials said.

A preliminary injunction court hearing on the Sling case is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11, at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles.

An initial moratorium on flight schools was one of several measures the City Council passed on July 25 to manage noise at its municipal airport. A landing fee system, also approved during that meeting, is already underway.

Starting Feb. 1, aircrafts at Torrance’s municipal airport will be charged a minimum of $6 per landing.

Military, public safety and medical aircraft, and operators that own and operate helipads — namely, Robinson Helicopter, a prominent manufacturer of civilian helicopters that’s been in Torrance since 1973 — are exempted from the charges.

The billing cycle for the fees will start on the first of each month.