Noise Office Set to Open at Airport

After years of delay, the city will open an office today at Van Nuys Airport to coordinate the soundproofing of homes affected by jet noise from the nation’s busiest general aviation airfield.

About 1,050 homes and apartments will be eligible for soundproofing, based on the level of noise at their locations, said Nancy Niles, a spokeswoman for the city’s Residential Soundproofing Bureau.

To qualify for soundproofing, which will be entirely free, residents must agree not to sue the city in the future over airport noise issues--a condition that some leaders say dooms the program.

For the first several weeks the office on Sherman Way is open, staff will be limited to answering questions about the program. Airports Department officials plan to call in the first 30 eligible homeowners in mid-January. They will be picked largely because they experience the worst noise levels.

The program will soundproof eligible residences over the next three to five years at a cost of about $3 million annually, Niles said. There is no soundproofing for homes outside the high-noise zone, even in homes where people can hear jets taking off.

“For people living near the airport, it reduces interior noise levels significantly and improves their quality of life,” Niles said.

The program will do nothing, however, to reduce the nuisance for people holding backyard barbecues or reading on their porches, homeowner leaders say.

“This is a Band-Aid approach,” said David Rankell, a leader of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. “It does not reduce the noise problem for the larger community.”

For that reason, critics of the airport will continue to press the Los Angeles City Council to adopt tough rules to phase out noisy jets. The council last month delayed a vote on new jet restrictions for another 90 days in order to determine how far the city can legally go in limiting air operations.

“What we’re advocating is abatement, because residential soundproofing doesn’t solve the problem for the backyard, the kids walking to school,” said Gerald Silver, head of the group Stop The Noise! and president of Homeowners of Encino.

Only a fraction of the residents affected by airport noise will be eligible for soundproofing, Silver said. The program is available for those living in an area where the average noise level calculated over a year is 65 decibels, which Silver said basically extends one block around the airport.

“If they do this, all it will do is put soundproofing in a handful of residences, without reducing noise one iota for the rest of us,” Silver said.

The city began a noise study to support federal funding of soundproofing programs 10 years ago, but it is still incomplete, so the city is paying for the first year’s program with general airport revenue.

Last year, Airports Department Administrator Jack Driscoll said he hoped to begin soundproofing San Fernando Valley homes in the summer of 1999.

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Silver said he suspects the city is opening the office now as a last ditch attempt to influence Administrative Law Judge Samuel Reyes, who is scheduled in February to rule on a city request for a variance to continue operating the airport. For the airport to continue to operate, the state must grant a variance from noise rules.

“Opening an office is only going to be an effort to make it look like they are solving a problem when they aren’t,” Silver said.

About 150 of the eligible residential units are single-family homes. The rest are apartments. It costs about $25,000 to soundproof the average single-family home, Niles said.

The process includes installation of double-paned windows, solid-core doors, acoustical glass in sliding glass doors and insulation in the walls and attic.

If a resident agrees to soundproofing, the city seeks bids, oversees the construction and makes all payments. The homeowner is not involved in handling money, Niles said.

Because competitive bids are required, it will take about nine months to complete construction once a homeowner agrees to soundproofing, she said.

Niles said that around Los Angeles International Airport more than 1,000 homeowners have already signed up for soundproofing.

The city’s new Residential Soundproofing Bureau office will be at 16525 Sherman Way, Suite C-1. Two staff members will be assigned full time to the office, and three others will work from the office as needed.

Residents may reach the office for information on the program by calling (818) 909-3573.