Airport Noise Issue Quiets Down Slightly

The sound from jet engines in Van Nuys Airport makes its way down through the tall trees of Genesta Avenue, prompting a former resident to cover his ears while taking an evening stroll.

“Just like I remember it,” said Jay Dwyer, who lived just a few blocks away from the airport for nine years and returns frequently to visit his daughter.

Dwyer and others have moved out, not necessarily because of the noise, but as Dwyer said, it certainly didn’t keep him here. And then there are the residents who have stayed, some even fighting the airport, demanding steps be taken to curb the booming noises emanating from the older jets that land and take off there.

The war between residents and airport officials has been waged for years. Recently, a battle was ended; some say it was won by the residents, others say by the airport officials, and still others say the battle was a draw.

In early December, the city Airport Commission voted to start the curfew for planes an hour earlier, from 11 to 10 p.m., a decision homeowner groups had been asking for and a concession the airport tenants felt they could live with. The ruling was approved last week by the airport’s commerce commission.

The city Airport Commission chose not to vote on a second request of homeowner groups, the “non-addition” rule, a provision that would limit the number of noisy aircraft, classified by the Federal Aviation Administration as “stage 2” aircraft, usually older planes built before development of quieter engines.

The vote on this rule was delayed for 60 to 90 days to allow the commission to conduct various noise studies.

Some residents say that not enough has been done and that the curfew is too little, too late.

“It’s ridiculous to think this would solve anything,” said Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino and a member of the Stop the Noise Coalition, a group formed to try to mute the jets at the airport.

Calling the curfew “a drop in the bucket,” Silver said what really needs to be done is a phasing out of the noisy jets.

But that is a provision airport officials and tenants say will not be explored.

“We have no intention of looking into that,” a commission spokesman said. “We are taking steps to help the community, but [phasing out] is unrealistic.”

Residents will have to deal with the noise at current levels for at least a while longer.