Van Nuys Airport Noise

* All homeowners of the San Fernando Valley should realize that their property values are about to decrease due to a decision handed down by the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on July 28 (“Airport Panel OKs Noise Reduction Plan,” July 30). The board approved the continued use of noisy and polluting Stage 2 jets [at] Van Nuys Airport when most other airports have put a stop to these cheap jets.

Santa Monica Airport allows no Stage 2 aircraft and limits helicopters to no earlier than a 7 a.m. departure. Van Nuys Airport has more than 50 of each based at the airport and countless more fly in and out every day. Helicopters can depart and fly over our homes as early as 5:30 a.m.

The threat of lawsuits from businesses based at Van Nuys and of loss of jobs have scared the city and kept Van Nuys Airport growing with little if any noise restrictions. The Valley has lost major businesses before and yet we have survived and blossomed in spite of the doomsayers. These businesses will not go away if Stage 2 aircraft are removed. Why? Because corporate jets will still need to come here.

The real bottom line here is that the corporations that fly these noisy aircraft are the biggest recipients of the nation’s largest economic boom and can easily move to newer and quieter aircraft. Catalytic converters and air bags didn’t kill the auto industry as many claimed they would. There are no more excuses for the aircraft industry either.

It is essential that homeowners, tired of being bullied by the money powers in this city, express their opinions as loudly as a Stage 2 jet to their representatives on the [Los Angeles] City Council. Tell them that no amount of threats should stop the elimination of Stage 2 aircraft from all airports in our city and limit the height and hours that nonemergency helicopters can fly. Let’s see if they have the will to listen to the residents of the Valley and finally vote for a better quality of life instead of once again turning their backs on us and forcing us to break away in anger because they failed to solve a problem much larger than leaf blowers.

WAYNE WILLIAMS

Sherman Oaks