Local News in Brief : Homeowners Group to Boycott Meeting on Noise From Airport

A Sherman Oaks homeowners group plans to boycott a public meeting scheduled Thursday night on noise from Burbank Airport.

The meeting, at Burbank Senior High School, is being held by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to inform residents of the area around the airport about the progress of a study of noise problems from jet airliners.

Under an agreement with the City of Los Angeles, the airport authority requested a study of noise problems, using guidelines laid down by the Federal Aviation Administration. A committee, including representatives of some homeowners groups, selected the firm of Peat, Marwick & Mitchell to conduct the study.

Richard M. Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowner Assn., said he asked members to boycott the meeting. He complained in a letter to the authority that it “is controlling the preparation of the study,” expressing fear it will justify airport officials in increasing the number of jetliner flights, which his group opposes.

Victor J. Gill, manager of community relations for the airport authority, said the authority’s role was determined by rules set by the FAA in return for providing up to $282,000 of the $350,000 cost of the study. Close was invited to join the committee that selected the research firm, but also refused that invitation, complaining that the authority would dominate it.