$36-Million Plan OKd to Ease Airport Noise

Amid emotional pleas and demands for help, the Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved a program to soundproof or buy hundreds of homes near John Wayne Airport at a cost of up to $36 million.

“We had to leave the home and forget it and go,” Gerald Odegaard , who moved from Santa Ana Heights a year ago and is waiting to sell his home to the county, told the supervisors.

“I fortunately could get out (but) I suffered financially.” After being promised for 10 years that homeowners battered by jet noise would be helped, he said, “I believe that good faith will prevail on the board.”

The supervisors agreed to the general outlines of the programs more than a year ago when they adopted a master plan to expand the airport and replace some of the homes in Santa Ana Heights with office buildings.

Implementation was held up by lawsuits challenging creation of a bigger, busier airport. A settlement reached in December allows construction of a new terminal to serve an expected 8.4 million passengers a year, up from 4.75 million now, and cleared the way to help homeowners battered by the noise of jet planes.

Robert G. Fisher, the county planning director, said about 360 parcels in the area are eligible for purchase by the county under the plan, which is designed to help people who “desire to move and are having difficulty in selling their homes on the open market.”

He estimated the cost at $30 million if one-quarter of those eligible take part.

The acoustical insulation program could cover 450 homes at a cost of $4.6 million, Fisher said. But county officials said the supervisors’ agreement to provide air conditioning, rather than a simpler ventilation system, as part of the soundproofing program would raise the cost to $6 million.

The county has already appropriated $2 million in seed money to start the programs and expects to replenish a revolving fund through county resales of properties that are bought and the sale of bonds backed by revenues from sales taxes generated by companies that move into the areas.

Although Fisher’s figures work out to $333,333 for each of 90 parcels, Environmental Management Agency staff workers said actual purchase prices could be less, because the figure included relocation benefits, fees and administrative expenses.

Several homeowners were unhappy at the county’s use of the term “fair market value,” arguing that they would be unable to buy comparable homes elsewhere if the county did not pay “replacement value.”

“We want the county to provide us with a plan whereby we can buy a home with the same square footage, in the same school district, located in this area, with mortgage rates and a tax rate all equal to what we have now and nothing less,” Chester P. Groskreutz told the supervisors.

Groskreutz is president of the Sherwood Estates Homeowners’ Assn., which covers 88 homes built in 1964 between Orchard Drive, Santa Ana Avenue and the Santa Ana-Delhi flood control channel.

“If you are unable to provide such a plan, you will force us not to accept either of the proposals, which will then put the county out of compliance” with state law requiring protection of homeowners near airports from jet noise, Groskreutz said.

“As public servants you owe the taxpayers of this county an airport, but you also have an obligation and a responsibility to not destroy the only lifetime investment of my home,” he added.

Cites Years of Stress

After years of “emotional and physical stress” because of the airport, homeowners deserve “replacement homes,” Groskreutz said.

The “purchase assurance program” calls for up to three appraisals of a property by independent agents to determine its value. The acoustical insulation is estimated to cost $10,000 to $15,000 per residence, including air conditioning.

Both programs are voluntary, but a homeowner can apply only for one.

Odegaard said he moved to the San Diego County community of Bonsall and has rented his house on Pegasus Street in Sherwood Estates.

He said his taxes are much higher in Bonsall and he has been unable to rent the Pegasus house for as much as he would like because prospective tenants were concerned about the county’s plans for the community.

He agreed that when he moved to Santa Ana Heights in 1971, “the jets were there, no question about that,” but said he thought he and his family would be able to endure their noise.

Impact Called Cumulative

But he found that “noise impacts are cumulative. The longer you live there the more upset you become, the more stress you have.”

Two signs propped against a back wall in the supervisors’ meeting room read: “Proud of Our Homes” and “Treat Sherwood Estate Homeowners Fairly.”

One resident, Sherry Kettley, said the county “should pay for the damage that they have inflicted on us” by authorizing more flights from the airport, and, thus, more noise.

When board Chairman Ralph B. Clark reminded her that she had spoken for more than the allotted three minutes, she retorted that she had spoken only one minute more and said, “I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to intimidate us.” Her remark was greeted by applause from the audience.

To make the soundproofing program more palatable to homeowners, the supervisors agreed to the air-conditioning installation and to let residents bring lawsuits against the county if airport-caused noise increases dramatically in the future.

They also agreed to let homeowners pick their own contractors to carry out the acoustical insulation, which generally involves reinforcing windows or installing new ones, modifying the ventilation system and replacing hollow doors with solid ones.

About 40 to 60 homes are expected to be insulated within a year after the program starts. Priority for the home buying program will go to residents suffering medical or financial hardship.