Noise Problem Still Up in the Air

There was joy, back in January, when Los Angeles officials said that they were seeking federal approval to impose fines on noisy Van Nuys Airport aircraft.

This was to be a toughening of noise abatement efforts at an airport that had relied upon a voluntary, daytime “fly friendly” program and an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. nighttime curfew. The only monetary fines involved the curfew hours, and were levied against planes that generated more than 74 decibels on takeoff.

Such “noisy pilot” fines have been in place at Santa Monica, Long Beach, Torrance and other airports, but not at Van Nuys. Adding the mid-San Fernando Valley airfield to that list was hailed as “an excellent idea” by Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.

But a Times Valley Edition news account tells us that the fine system for nighttime curfews at the airport has been something of a joke since its inception in 1981. If matters cannot be run better than this, why bother to raise false hopes about fines for noisy pilots?

Assistant City Atty. Breton Lobner says he believes that the city has “done an admirable job” of enforcing the nighttime curfew. Oh, really?

The Times news story shows just 60 monetary fine violations logged at Van Nuys by city officials since 1981. Well, if there were only 60 violations in 15 years, at an airport that now has 526,000 annual flights, it represents a pretty remarkable history of self-policing. Either the airport has a public relations coup on its hands, or we’re missing a few violations reports.

Now, back to that admirable enforcement job. According to The Times news story: curfew violators paid fines in just 32 of 60 cases, taking an average of 14 months to do so; and 16 cases are still pending.

OK, the city attorney’s office has eliminated a ludicrous and time-consuming requirement that every jet owner first be sued and face a mandatory court appearance before the city could collect its fine. Great; it had only been in place for the first 14 years of the ordinance.

And the city still requires alleged noise violators to meet personally with city attorneys before attempting to collect a fine. Why?

Santa Monica Airport has a preferable program, and Los Angeles officials simply ought to copy it. Santa Monica officials send a letter notifying jet owners of the date and time of their violation. Most pay promptly because they don’t want their airport privileges revoked. (That’s another area in which Los Angeles officials have been lax.) In Santa Monica, a hearing occurs only if the alleged violator wants to contest the fine.

Van Nuys Airport and Los Angeles officials are kidding themselves if they think that their airfield expansion plans will receive anything but the chilliest of receptions from noise-weary neighbors. How could it be otherwise, when the city hasn’t even shown itself capable of sanctioning curfew violators in timely fashion?