Coalition Tries to Ground Jet Noise Rules

A coalition of powerful business organizations has stepped up a campaign to defeat new rules designed to reduce jet noise at Van Nuys Airport, arguing they would harm the San Fernando Valley economy.

In recent letters and phone calls, Los Angeles City Council members were urged to reject the noise ordinance by representatives of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. (VICA), the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, the Mid Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Van Nuys Airport Assn., a group of 100 businesses that operate at and near the airport.

The council is scheduled to consider the rules today. “The economic costs of imposing severe restrictions, such as those in this proposed ordinance, far outweigh its benefits,” VICA Chairman Steve Lew said in a letter Friday to the City Council.

Lew said the rule could result in the cumulative loss of more than $750 million in economic activity in the Valley and approximately 2,400 jobs.

The ordinance, which would prohibit an increase in the number of older jets that are considered the noisiest, also is opposed by some homeowner activists for not doing enough to make sure all noisy jets are banned.

In a letter Monday to elected officials, Gerald Silver of the group “Stop the Noise” urged opposition to what he called “bogus” rules for Van Nuys Airport that would “lock in the present noise problems for decades to come.”

Silver said the ordinance does not set a timetable for removing noisy jets based at Van Nuys and does not restrict older, noisy jets that fly into Van Nuys but are not based there.

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., supports the proposal, but said he fears that with so much opposition from some business and residents the council may punt the issue back to the Airport Commission, which has taken several years to come up with recommendations.

“If we send this back, it’s going to be three to seven more years before anything happens again,” Schultz said. “In the meantime, what will we have? Nothing.”

City Councilwoman Laura Chick, whose district includes part of the airport, said she would support the Airport Commission proposal, which would target older jets that are noisier than newer models. Council members Mike Feuer and Cindy Miscikowski said they would be likely to vote against the proposed ordinance because it does not provide enough protections for residents.

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Until Dec. 21, 2005, the proposal would allow owners of the noisier jets based at the airport to replace them, but not increase their number. The replacement jets would have to be removed from the airport after 2010.

“I don’t think it delivers everything in terms of noise relief for residents, but I think it is a balanced, doable approach to a problem that has persisted for more than a decade,” Chick said. “If we turn this down, or send it back to the commission, it will never see the light of day again.”

Chick said any attempt to push a stronger measure could run afoul of the Federal Aviation Administration, which might require new economic studies.

“Unless something very unusual happens that I don’t anticipate, I will be opposing it because it’s not tough enough,” Feuer said. He will ask the council instead to urge the Airport Commission to adopt a rule capping the number of jets and beginning a 10-year phaseout of older, noisier jets starting in 2002.

Miscikowski, whose district includes an area near the airport, may seek a delay to allow the city attorney’s office to research whether the city can legally take stronger action to phase out noisy jets, said spokesman Glenn Barr.

“Cindy is inclined not to support the ordinance, because she doesn’t think it goes far enough,” Barr said.

Today’s council meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Airtel Plaza Hotel, 7277 Valjean Ave., Van Nuys.