Van Nuys Airport Noise Curbs Rejected

State transportation officials on Friday renewed a crucial permit for Van Nuys Airport, quashing hopes of anti-noise homeowners for a limit on jet and helicopter operations at the nation’s busiest general aviation airport.

Complying with a ruling by an administrative law judge, the state Department of Transportation issued a three-year variance that allows the airport to continue operations, even though it exceeds state noise limits.

The ruling by Judge Samuel D. Reyes rejected all proposed restrictions on aircraft and flight operations, instead endorsing airport plans to reduce noise impacts on neighbors by soundproofing houses and apartments.

Calling state noise laws “bogus, a sham,” Gerald Silver of Sherman Oaks said the ruling “represents a total and major loss for the community and a 100% victory for the airport.”

Silver said homeowners may seek to appeal or overturn the decision, possibly by filing a lawsuit in Superior Court.

“Here we have a state noise law that doesn’t protect the residents. It works against them,” Silver said. The airport and its tenants “get to do everything they want to do with no constraints short of soundproofing.”

Reyes specifically rejected all key requests by anti-noise forces, including a curfew on helicopter operations and a phase-out of noisier, older jets.