Letters to the Editor: Hollywood Burbank Airport complainers take NIMBYism to new heights

To the editor: Decades of research have shown that living within a few miles of an airport can cause health issues, particularly affecting respiratory and heart health. The problem is that unless dwelling close to an airport is prohibited, people who live in airport-adjacent communities will be at risk for those identified ailments. (“Love the Hollywood Burbank airport? Try living under its flight paths,” Opinion, Dec. 15)

There are nearly 20,000 airports in the United States. The notion that no one can live within several miles of an airport is not possible, practical or even desirable.

Most of us have compassion for people experiencing homelessness, but we don’t want shelters in our neighborhoods. We decry unaffordable housing costs, but we don’t want inexpensive housing built next door to us — and we don’t want any zoning changes either.

Op-ed article writer Julia Bricklin doesn’t want reminders of the pollution caused by airplanes flying over her head in Studio City. While I have advocated for closing Hollywood Burbank Airport to flights earlier in the day, for increased safety and air regulations and for “cleaner” fuel, this idea that planes shouldn’t fly over Studio City brings “not in my backyard” to new heights (pun intended).

Fish have to swim. Planes have to fly. Where would Bricklin have them fly? Over someone else’s house?

Teresa DeCrescenzo, Studio City

..

To the editor: I feel Bricklin’s pain.

I have lived in Benedict Canyon for 45 years in a lovely mountain setting. I woke up one morning to find that my house had been swept up during the night and dropped right next to Hollywood Burbank Airport, much like Dorothy’s house in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Except this is not a Technicolor dream. This is a nightmare.

Starting around 7 a.m., low-flying commercial jets continuously roar above me, many so low I can see clearly every detail of the underside of these planes. They announce themselves with a low roar that begins to bounce off the canyon walls, building to climax as they pass directly overhead, spewing toxic debris as they go.

While Hollywood Burbank Airport is many miles away, you would never know it inside my house. It is ridiculous to fly over a mountain range, effectively losing altitude as you go at full throttle. This defies logic — unless, once again, we see corporate greed over our heads, somehow “saving” fuel while disrupting and poisoning the community below.

My Benedict Canyon community was given no warning, no opportunity to have any input or say in these life-altering changes. I will be changing my address to Hollywood Burbank Airport, because apparently, that is where I live now.

Rodney Kemerer, Beverly Hills