Van Nuys Airport Noise

“Noise, Needs Must Balance,” May 17.

Whose fault is it that there is noise in the San Fernando Valley?

Van Nuys Airport opened as a private airport in 1928; at the time, the rest of the Valley was cornfields and orange trees. As the population grew in Los Angeles, people moved from the downtown and Hollywood areas to the Valley, creating a huge demand for housing here.

The job of creating zoning regulations lies with the city of Los Angeles. And while both the state and federal governments recognize that there are areas surrounding airports that are not best suited for residential housing, the city of Los Angeles has never recognized this fact.

Instead of zoning the areas in the immediate community of Van Nuys Airport as industrial or commercial, the city has consistently allowed more and denser residential homes to be built near the airport and under its flight path. The city just did it again, approving a 23-unit development to be built one mile from the north end of the runway. Vocal anti-airport critics openly support such developments--as they explain--to add to the complaining voices.

This is an excellent example of why Valley residents are frustrated with downtown politics. We are suffering because of downtown decisions that do not take into account their impact on our community.

Those who have represented the Valley since 1928 should have shown more leadership in zoning the community properly in the first place. Now that Van Nuys Airport has established itself as a consistent revenue generator for the Valley, why should airport users have to pay for the mistakes of politicians past?

GEORGE JEROME, Chair, Van Nuys Citizens Advisory Council, West Hills

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I am writing in response to letters criticizing Congressman Brad Sherman on his airport noise survey (“Noise Survey,” May 3 and “Questionnaire About Airports,” April 19). Obviously the letter writers do not live in an area affected by Van Nuys Airport or Burbank Airport. The fact of the matter is that Sherman recognized that both airports have become a problem in some areas. Residents have their sleep interrupted on a regular basis. They have their day-to-day lives disrupted by what has become constant aircraft noise. Something else to be considered is the amount of air pollution put out by the aircraft over residential areas. There needs to be a balance between business and residential life. People should not be driven from their homes.

Sherman was attempting to find out just how big a problem area airports had become. Perhaps those complaining about the survey are just unhappy about the results.

I would like to thank Sherman for listening to his constituents and caring enough to look into the matter. We need more elected officials that care about all of their constituents.

ANNE CARVER, Co-Chair, Airport Committee, Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.