Chick Wants New, Stricter Van Nuys Airport Noise Rules

Frustrated with past efforts to reduce Van Nuys Airport noise, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick urged airport administrators Monday to move quickly to adopt new noise restrictions.

In a letter to Jack Driscoll, executive director of the city Department of Airports, Chick said she feels his staff has given her “the runaround” on imposing some key noise restrictions.

“After waiting many years for a quality noise ordinance to come out of the Department of Airports and the Board of Airport Commissioners, it is time for me to make a renewed effort to bring this ordinance to fruition now,” she wrote.

Chick’s west San Fernando Valley district does not include the airport but she said airport noise is a continuing concern with her constituents who live nearby.

In the letter, she suggests the Department of Airports expand a noise curfew by one hour and prohibit airport businesses from bringing any additional older noisy jets, known as Stage 2 aircraft, to the airport.

The curfew now prohibits takeoffs of the noisiest jets between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., except in cases of medical emergencies. Chick would like that curfew to start at 10 p.m.

But the Federal Aviation Administration must sign off on such changes and in the past the FAA has indicated that it would not support noise restrictions without a study of the economic impact on airport businesses and users.

In fact, the Board of Airport Commissioners rescinded a 1992 plan to completely phase out the older noisier jets after the FAA warned that such a change could hurt airport businesses. The FAA threatened to withhold grants for capital expenditures, like new buildings.

Since then, Chick argues that the city has done little to work with the FAA to impose new restrictions. She said in the letter that she believes the FAA would support a ban on additional Stage 2 jets and the extended curfew.

Driscoll could not be reached for comment, but Bret Lobner, an assistant city attorney at the Department of Airports, said his office is preparing an analysis that could help convince the FAA that the city has the authority to impose some tough new restrictions.