Palmdale's Plan to Create 6,000 New Jobs Hits Unexpected Turbulence

LOS ANGELES-Elected officials in the North County community of Palmdale have hit some expected turbulence in their efforts to help an aerospace company bring up to 6,000 high-paying jobs to their area.

Palmdale has promised SR Technics America Ltd. $5.4 million in redevelopment funds and fee waivers in exchange for SR Technics’ promise to keep its new aircraft maintenance and refurbishment facility open in Palmdale for at least the next 10 years. SR Technics opened shop at an old Boeing Co. plant in the desert community earlier this year based on that pledge, plus another package of incentives from the state worth $79 million and $12.5 million in help from the City of LA’s Airport Department.

Now, Palmdale may have trouble keeping its end of the bargain. It turns out that SR Technics’ plant actually sits outside of the city’s limits, on land owned by Los Angeles World Airports. LA World Airports won’t let Palmdale annex the land unless it first has a development agreement of its own.

LA World Airports is insisting that the 155 acres Palmdale wants to annex to keep its pledge be returned if SR Technics decides to leave after its 10 years are up. But Laurie Lile, Palmdale’s director of planning, says Palmdale doesn’t have the authority to cut such an agreement.

LA World Airports “just doesn’t understand that we don’t have the authority to agree that the [annexed land] would automatically revert back to the county at the end of the agreement,” Pile said in an interview last week.

“If we could do that, we certainly would agree to that kind of provision. But it’s simply not something the city has the authority to agree to.,” Lile told the Palmdale City Council last week.

Nonetheless, the Palmdale City Council voted to move ahead with its annexation plans and is hoping some sort of agreement can be worked with the Airport Department soon.