12/4/2024
The original lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in April 2024. It sought the repeal of Torrance Municipal Code (TMC) sections 51.5.1 through 51.5.7 and the vacating of Torrance Ordinance 3930 (which bans touch/stop and go operations at any time and allows full-stop-taxi-back and low approaches only at certain times). ZAPS claims the City has no authority to do so because the US Government has exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States. The lawsuit alleges that these attempts by the City to regulate the airspace above Torrance or the Airport are preempted, invalid, and unenforceable.
The City of Torrance responded to the ZAPS complaint, denying all of the allegations it contained.
The City later requested that the suit be removed to Federal Court. ZAPS agreed. The Federal Court set a Scheduling Conference for 1/14/2025, which will determine the schedule for further actions and trial.
On 2/1/2024, the City of Torrance began collecting landing fees from all Torrance Airport customers (except for the Robinson Helicopter Company) under Resolution 3927. The fees, the City stated, ". . .are necessary to offset the City's costs incurred in maintaining and operating airport facilities." No studies, documentation or any support for this claim was ever presented. In fact, over the past 10 years, the City's own public records show that it has transferred over $10 million annually into the General Fund from the Airport Fund because, it claimed, this money was not needed for the operation and maintenance of the airport.
On March 8, 2024, TAA filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. TAA claims that:
The TAA lawsuit asks the Court to:
The City recently filed an Answer to the TAA complaint and, as a result, TAA filed an amended complaint to include the City's discriminatory exclusion of Robinson Helicopter Company from paying landing fees.