Burbank Opposes Noise ‘Sharing’ Plan

The Burbank City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose a plan that would make areas east of the airport absorb more airplane noise to give some relief to residents living in areas now under the primary takeoff pattern.

The council recorded its opinion on the issue at the request of Burbank City Atty. Douglas C. Holland, who is a member of an airport committee that will vote on the noise “equalization” plan Thursday.

“Sharing the noise is not an answer for controlling the noise,” said Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard, who is a member of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. “What we need is a plan to put a cap on flights at the airport.”

But the Burbank vote may have little impact on the many groups that must consider the proposal to encourage more jetliner takeoffs toward the east, away from the current takeoff pattern that sends planes over neighborhoods to the south and west of the airport.

The proposal now is before a study group sponsored by the Airport Authority under a Federal Aviation Administration procedure for bringing local officials and residents into the airport noise-control process.

It is the study group’s policy advisory committee--made up of local, state and federal officials and their aides--that will vote Thursday on whether to include the plan in an anti-noise program it will send to the Airport Authority.

The Authority will decide whether to submit the report to the FAA, which has final authority over any takeoff rerouting.

The advisory committee, on which Holland sits, appears to be divided along geographical lines on whether to support the plan, and “majority” and “minority” recommendations may be given to the FAA.

Representatives of areas south and west of the airport, which presently receive the most airport noise, have argued for the plan. But representatives from Glendale and Burbank are against it, saying the rerouting of jets could bring noise to neighborhoods that now get little of it.

The airport has two runways, a north-south runway and an east-west runway. The FAA has prohibited jets from taking off toward the east because the terminal is too close to the east-west runway.

About 90% of commercial flights take off to the south, then curve westward over Studio City and northward over North Hollywood.

East Valley anti-noise groups have been encouraging more takeoffs toward the east.

The controversial proposal would encourage such takeoffs after the Airport Authority removes the FAA ban on eastbound jetliner takeoffs by constructing a new terminal and razing the present building. No firm date has been set for construction, but airport spokesmen have said they expect to complete a new terminal in the 1990s.

Currently, 519 acres of Burbank residential neighborhoods experience significant noise from aircraft leaving in a southerly direction from the airport. If the noise-equalization plan is implemented, it is estimated that an additional 1,747 acres of the city’s residential neighborhoods, or 60% of Burbank, would receive substantial noise.

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