Van Nuys Airport Council Is Born : Complaints Prompt Creation of the 14-Member Group

In response to complaints by homeowner groups, a San Fernando Valley advisory council has been formed by the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners to provide locally based advice about the Van Nuys Airport.

Acting on a request by the City Council, the commissioners voted unanimously this week to establish a 14-member committee.

The movement toward formation of the committee began April 2 when about 300 people attended a meeting at Fulton Junior High School in Van Nuys, held by the City Council’s Committee on Industry and Economic Development to hear complaints about the airport. Aircraft noise and the danger of plane crashes were among the sore points.

The crowd was about evenly divided between protesters and airport supporters.

The meeting was attended by Councilmen John Ferraro and Ernani Bernardi. Ferarro subsequently introduced the City Council motion to ask the commission, which already has a citywide citizens advisory council, to establish another panel to concentrate on Van Nuys Airport. The panel is to be made up of “people who reside, work and operate businesses in the surrounding area.”

The commission decided that four City Council members from Valley districts--Ferraro, Bernardi, Joy Picus and Marvin Braude-- will each name two members to the advisory council. The mayor and the board of airport commissioners each will name three members.

In a related development, the commissioners on Wednesday heard a report from James R. Norville, the airport manager, that an agreement had been worked out to change the recommended flight patterns for helicopters leaving or approaching the airfield. Helicopter noise has been a subject of complaints by residents of the area.

Representatives of the Professional Helicopter Pilots Assn., the Federal Aviation Administration, the airport administration and Ban Airport Noise, a local residents group, all took part in the discussions that led to the changes, Norville said.

One of the major changes was to move the helicopter route on the east side of the airfield from the corridor over Saticoy Street to a point over Stagg Street, about one-fourth mile north, where there are fewer residences and more industry.

The north-south approach to that route was moved from a corridor over the San Diego Freeway to one over Sepulveda Boulevard to remove the noise of helicopter traffic from the freeway-based pattern flown by fixed-wing traffic.

The FAA said 62 helicopters are based at Van Nuys, including two operated by the California Highway Patrol and 11 operated by the City of Los Angeles. On an average day, they make about 100 takeoffs and landings, the FAA said.