Plan for ‘Shared’ Burbank Airport Noise Splits Panel

A committee studying airplane noise around Burbank Airport struggled unsuccessfully last week to reach a decision on a plan to make residents east of the airport “share” its noise with residents in areas now under the primary takeoff pattern.

But two hours of sometimes strident debate on the plan Friday showed that the committee of local, state and federal officials--set up as part of a Federal Aviation Administration noise study--is strongly divided along geographical lines.

Representatives from Burbank and Glendale argued against the plan, which would have as many as 40% of the commercial flights take off eastward, possibly affecting neighborhoods in their cities, which now experience little aircraft noise.

But representatives from areas south and west of the airport, which now experience the most airport noise, argued for the plan.

At one time, members of the committee hoped to make a consensus recommendation on the plan to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which would then decide whether to make it part of an anti-noise proposal that it will send to the FAA.

2 Reports Expected

After Friday’s discussion, however, several members said it appears that majority and minority reports will be filed instead.

Officials of Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport pressed for a quick decision on the plan, which was proposed by east San Fernando Valley homeowner associations as a way to spread the burden of aircraft noise.

Richard Vacar, manager of airport affairs, said he wants to settle the complicated question of eastward takeoffs as soon as possible because other anti-noise measures under consideration hinge on how noise will be distributed.

“It’s not practical for the study to continue without having a decision on runway use,” Vacar said. “Until I have that, we’re really in a hold posture. There are people losing interest in the study because nothing is going on.”

The committee’s acting chairman, Lindy Graham, an administrative aide to Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), said a decision could be reached by the end of the month.

Technically Complex

The debate over the noise-sharing plan has proved as technically complex as it is politically sensitive.

Almost all flights now take off to the south, over North Hollywood and Studio City. The Federal Aviation Administration has prohibited jets from taking off toward the east because the terminal building is so close to the east-west runway.

But the FAA and the Air Transport Assn. have agreed that as many as 40% of commercial flights could take off to the east as soon as a new terminal is completed.

East Valley homeowner groups are lobbying for that.

They contend that the eastward flight path would cross over mostly industrial areas in the early, noisiest, stage of ascent and would also spread the noise burden to parts of Burbank and Glendale. Residents in those communities, they say, then might put political pressure on the three-city authority to limit flights.

Already beset by jurisdictional and political complexities, the debate became even more clouded recently when a consultant released data suggesting that the noise-sharing plan would not benefit east San Fernando Valley residents as much as they hoped.

Future Problems

The problem is that planes taking off to the east will eventually be routed over the North Hollywood area anyway. The FAA prohibits the planes from continuing east because they would come too close to planes landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

Data recently produced by the consultant, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., showed that the noise-sharing plan would only slightly reduce the noise-impact area south of the airport, while dramatically expanding it to the east, Vacar said.

Those findings are outlined in maps projecting the area around the airport that would exceed the state noise standard. In making the noise maps, the consultant assumed that there would be an average of 75 flights a day--a slight increase from the current level--but that the mix of airplanes would be quieter than those in service today, Vacar said.

Under current runway use, with most takeoffs occurring to the south, then turning west and north, the area of excessive noise bulges south from the airport almost to Burbank Boulevard.

The noise-impact area consists of 383 acres, 109 in Los Angeles and 274 in Burbank, an area in which about 6,100 people live.

New Noise Bulge

Shifting some takeoffs to the east would shrink the southern bulge only slightly but create a new bulge to the east, the consultants said.

Although about half of that bulge would be over industrial and commercial areas, it would also cover a Burbank residential area east of the airport that now is not subject to excessive noise.

The change, according to figures supplied with the maps, would reduce the noise area to 61 acres in Los Angeles but would increase it to 297 acres in Burbank, a total reduction of only 25 acres.

Because the improvement would be so small and the change would mean people unaccustomed to airplane noise would have planes flying overhead, there is no persuasive argument for changing takeoff patterns based on technical considerations, Vacar said.

Representatives on the committee from Burbank and Glendale said Friday that they saw compelling reasons not to change the takeoff patterns.

‘Shifts the Problem’

“It doesn’t solve the problem, it merely shifts the problem,” Burbank City Atty. Doug Holland said.

Because almost all the noise area is in Burbank, that city’s officials should be able to decide how to distribute the noise, Holland said.

Glendale City Councilman Carl Raggio argued that the effect would be to double the noise because there will still be excessive noise to the south, and residents to the east would experience it for the first time.

But Graham, Berman’s aide, said she considers the 25-acre reduction significant.

“That’s good enough for me,” she said.

Proponents of the noise-sharing plan also contend that the state-mandated method of measuring noise exposure does not accurately reflect the problem as experienced by people in the valley.

The state standard is based on an average measure of noise throughout the day.

But Brad Rosenheim, a field deputy for Los Angeles Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents parts of the south valley, said valley residents are more concerned with the number of flights.

Benefit to Thousands

By reducing the number of flights over their homes, the noise-sharing plan would benefit thousands of residents who are now inside the noise boundaries, he said.

Graham said she also favors the introduction of the eastward takeoffs for political reasons, believing that it would increase the pressure on the Airport Authority from people in Burbank, who have direct political leverage.

The authority consists of three appointees each from Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, which own the airport.

East valley residents complained that it is unfair that they have no power over the authority, even though they are subjected to noise from its planes.

The noise study, which was begun as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles City Council over airport noise, has given Los Angeles political leaders their first formal representation in the airport’s governing process.