Van Nuys : Response to Copter Noise Plan Mixed

A proposal to establish a “helicopter corridor” over the Ventura Freeway for aircraft using Van Nuys and Burbank airports got mixed reactions from homeowners who complain about noise.

Under the proposal, the Los Angeles Department of Airports would ask the Federal Aviation Administration to create a route in which helicopters would not be allowed to fly below altitudes now permitted.

Although the FAA has set a minimum altitude of 1,000 feet for helicopters flying over urban areas, there effectively is no minimum because pilots may fly lower the minimum whenever they feel it is safe to do so.

The recommendation will be considered Tuesday by the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners.

Helicopters flying out of the two airports already travel over the Ventura Freeway. But Gerald A. Silver, who has led south San Fernando Valley homeowner groups in a fight against airport noise for many years, said the proposal would formalize the route as a flight path.

“We do not want to see the establishment of a corridor at any height along the Ventura Freeway because we already have an excessive amount of noise and air traffic,” said Silver. “We believe that all traffic, except emergency traffic, should use Stagg Street and the I-5 Freeway, not Ventura and the Cahuenga Pass.”

But Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., said he believed the proposal would be good for the south Valley because it would require helicopters to fly higher than they currently do. Schultz’s group opposes abolition of the Ventura Freeway as a route, saying that such a move would shift more of the noise burden onto other routes and other communities. Van Nuys Airport Manager Ron Kochevar agreed with Schultz that the proposal would merely establish an a stricter altitude minimum.

Silver predicted that many residents would attend Tuesday’s meeting to protest the proposal, as well as other department recommendations that he said showed a lack of responsiveness to community concerns about aircraft noise out of Van Nuys Airport.

The board also will review the results of a yearlong study, some of which were released Thursday, on the effectiveness of a program to reduce helicopter noise through voluntary participation by helicopter operators. The study found that the program did not meet its goal of reducing the area around the airport with high noise levels from 1.8 square miles in 1990 to one square mile today. Instead, it reduced it to 1.3 square miles.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Airtel Hotel, 7277 Valjean Ave. in Van Nuys.