Airport Noise Divides L.A. and Burbank

Judge Robert H. O’Brien has again ruled against Los Angeles’ lawsuit which opposes the new terminal facility at Burbank Airport. Why are hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent by the Los Angeles City Council (during a budget crisis) on a futile legal attempt to stop the building of a modernized terminal facility at Burbank Airport?

This much-needed facility will provide jobs in the economically strapped San Fernando Valley, develop an industry that cannot be moved out of state and provide safety and convenience to airline passengers, more than 60% of whom are city of Los Angeles residents. How many City Council members and critics of the airport use this facility while hypocritically spending scarce funds to run up enormous legal fees?

Los Angeles built an elementary school directly under the airport runway approach in the 1960s (30 years after Burbank Airport had been in existence). Los Angeles rezoned and allowed the construction of several high-density residential units on Clybourne Street in the late 1970s within a few hundred yards of the airport runway.

Come on, L.A. City Council--let’s get off your moral high horse and get down to reality. The reality is that the Burbank Airport Authority has done an excellent job of reducing noise. Do any of the critics remember the “non-scheds” of the 1960s--the propeller-driven, overloaded planes that screamed out of the airport at any hour, including 3 a.m.? There are a litany of other noise problems of the past.

Los Angeles filed a fourth lawsuit recently. It should give up its delaying tactics and quit wasting taxpayers’ money. Let’s go forward with this regional facility, which will benefit everyone in this area, including Los Angeles residents.

A. C. YOUNG

Burbank

* In response to your Dec. 18 editorial on “The Costs and Benefits of Noisy Airport,” your information is slightly misleading. The stated curfew for 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. is loosely kept at best. As soon as daylight breaks, the first airplane is up and on its way. All one needs to do is look at the individual airline flight logs. Dozens of flights take off prior to 7 a.m. on a weekly basis, and the activity after 10 p.m. is not much better.

With regards specifically to the noise, one needs to pay special attention to the takeoff pattern of Burbank Airport. A majority of the flights that take off from the airport fly directly over Valley Village and Studio City. In fact, local homeowner groups are attempting to fight this incredible disturbance. The number of flights that take off over the city of Los Angeles has more than tripled over the last three years.

Burbank Airport is a valuable resource for the community. But before any expansion should take place the flight patterns and related noise intrusion should be addressed at greater depth.

RON FLEISHMAN

Valley Village