Residents Skeptical of Airport Noise Plan

When Jim Bogle settles in to watch TV, the disturbing sound effects often come from nearby Burbank Airport, not from the tube.

The boom of airplanes overhead can stop conversations. Telephone calls can require impeccable timing. Bogle, 66, and his wife, Marilyn, 63, routinely soothe visitors startled by the noise--and who sometimes look as if they think Martians might be invading.

“You’ll hear just a sudden roar,” said Bogle, a Maple Street homeowner for 38 years who lives half a mile south of the runway most used by the 180 daily flights departing from Burbank Airport.

Yet the Bogles, like many other airport neighbors, are skeptical about a new plan to sound insulate as many as 2,300 homes in Burbank and Los Angeles.

Some are openly hostile because the airport is offering the soundproofing only if homeowners give up their rights to sue over noise.

Many nearby homeowners are already unhappy about airport officials’ plans to move forward with expansion of the terminal, despite Burbank’s objections.

Even those who accept that flights are bound to increase because of demand are hesitant to give the sound insulation program an unconditional thumbs up.

A seemingly intractable impasse exists over the terminal expansion, as the city of Burbank and the city of Los Angeles have each filed lawsuits challenging the plans to accommodate more travelers.

Nevertheless, officials at the airport, which is run by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, an agency that consists of three commissioners from each city, mostly insist that the voluntary noise mitigation program is a good deal.

Homeowners would give up their right to sue over noise, but would not be restricted in the case of a crash, or damage due to something falling from an airplane, officials said.

“It’s our hope that we’re going to bring them something they can live with,” said Sean McCarthy, an airport spokesman. “Our intention is to take as long as it takes to do a quality job.”

The depths of the distrust are shown by Margie Gee, an airport commissioner from Burbank. She said she wants to be sure homeowners will not be taken advantage of.

“This sound insulation is the cheapest way of complying with the state,” she said. “The main thing now is promises should be kept.”

Gee, who was at a recent workshop on the sound insulation attended by about 40 homeowners and Burbank’s two other airport commissioners, said true concern for residents could be shown by keeping a small airport.

Although treating all the homes will take years and cost millions of dollars, the program could get started as soon as early next year. The first 54 homes would be covered by about $2 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, and about $490,000 from the airport authority.

Airport officials estimate the price of soundproofing the first homes will average $37,000 each, at no cost to homeowners. But to qualify, homeowners must correct any existing building or safety code violations, toward which the authority will contribute up to $5,000.

The soundproofing might include special windows, ceiling or wall insulation, heavier doors, a central air-conditioning system or other measures.

The plan, based on noise projections for 2000, covers an odd-shaped area that extends from the airport through Burbank, Sun Valley and North Hollywood.

Airport officials said the most severe noise affects 54 homes south of the airport in Burbank. To start, officials propose treating 12 of the homes--four each on Evergreen Street, Pass Avenue and Maple Street where they meet Pacific Avenue.

On Maple Street, the airport tower and planes are visible as one looks past the Portal of the Folded Wings aviation shrine in Valhalla Memorial Park.

Large carriers from Southwest, Alaska and other airlines take to the air headed south. Corporate jets, some noisier than others, also leave their mark with a blast. Such delivery services as Federal Express and United Parcel Service are considered among the noisiest offenders.

Many residents said being inside their homes can be about as bad as standing on a runway. Some said there are times when you would swear the walls were being whacked repeatedly with a sledgehammer.

“It seems like it’s one after the other. Bam, bam, bam,” said Armando Perez, who has owned his Maple Street home since 1984. “Inside my house you can hear very much. It’s very noisy.”

Perez, 42, like the Bogles and others, said that under the circumstances it might seem as if the sound insulation program is the smart thing to do. It is true that the airport and its 66-year-old terminal were there long before most homeowners moved into the area, he said.

But residents also said their concern comes from airport changes that create circumstances homeowners did not bargain on. The planned tripling of the terminal size and more flights make people especially nervous, they said.

“They should just buy us out,” said Betty Harasti, who has owned her home on Pass Avenue since 1975. “They’re so full of it.”

But many residents do not want to leave. They want to be sure that signing away their rights will not be a huge mistake, just as missing out on the sound insulation could be.

“You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” Perez said. “We’ll see.”

Local and federal officials said the area disturbed by “unacceptable” levels of noise has been reduced in recent years--from about 400 acres in the late 1970s to about 30 acres today--largely because of quieter jets.

The homes eligible for the sound insulation program continue to experience sustained exposure to sound at 65 decibels--about the level of normal speech indoors at 3 feet--or higher under a measuring system that establishes a community noise equivalent level, or CNEL. The CNEL is an average of noise levels scientifically measured over one year.

The system has been criticized by those who say averaging the sound levels makes light of occasions when certain flights are frighteningly loud.

In addition, flights by commercial airliners have increased steadily in recent years. Last year, the airport recorded 63,289 flights by commercial airliners as part of its overall operations figure of 184,543, which includes other private aircraft of all sizes.

About half of the current 180 flights per day are commercial flights and the rest are general aviation.

The airport does not have a curfew, but guidelines call for commercial airlines to keep the bulk of their flights between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

There are about half a dozen commercial departures scheduled between 6 and 7 a.m., with most leaving after 6:30 a.m. About the same number arrive after 10 p.m., including a 1:30 a.m arrival from Las Vegas.

But more travelers are seeing the relatively small facility as an easy alternative to Los Angeles International Airport. Nearly 5 million travelers use Burbank Airport a year; about 10 million are expected by 2010.

Although the airport is not violating FAA regulations, state law requires an ongoing effort to reduce the area disturbed by noise.

Recent efforts included a $3-million sound insulation program that was completed about two years ago at Luther Burbank Middle School.

“The sound in the classrooms has decreased significantly,” said Ali Kiafar, an assistant superintendent for Burbank schools. “Before it was unbearable. It’s much more bearable now. It’s not a disturbing level.”

Like Gee, many other residents and observers said the pressure is on airport personnel to treat homeowners fairly.

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) recently cited oise as one reason he opposes the airport’s plans for a larger terminal, although he supports a new terminal for safety reasons.

Tom Henry, an aide to Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents North Hollywood, said the sound insulation program is important, but it seems to be moving far too slowly.

“Obviously it’s a step in the right direction, although a pretty small one,” Henry said. “They know what the community concerns are. I think they can take bigger steps.”

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Future Burbank Airport Noise

A plan to soundproof 2,300 homes near Burbank Airport is based on airport nose in the year 2000.One condition of the plan might prevent homeowners from suing the airport over future noise.

Source: Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport