Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

La Jollans pick bones over noisy airspace

Airport authority criticized for giving Congressman Peters bad info

Some residents of La Jolla Shores and Bird Rock say that U.S. Rep. Scott Peters’s undated letter that blames aircraft-noise increases on Montgomery-Gibbs Field is "nonsense."

Scott Peters

"The [San Diego County Regional] Airport Authority's noise specialists told Rep Scott Peters that was the case and Scott just regurgitated that information in a letter to constituents," Chris McCann wrote in an email on November 27th. "The vast, vast majority of noise complaints filed by residents in Birdrock have been against commercial traffic departing SAN."

Two weeks ago, a long-awaited aircraft noise study confirmed that La Jolla has seen an increase in aircraft noise since the Federal Aviation Administration made changes to how San Diego airspace is used. La Jolla is affected by aircraft from several different sources, including helicopters from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Montgomery Field, the report notes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Noise levels from SDIA (Lindbergh) operations on average were lower magnitude than non-SDIA aircraft operations, but started earlier and ended later in the day (when background noise is quieter)," airport acoustical engineering consultant Paul Dunholter wrote in his report.

While noise levels from individual flights did not change, the number of aircraft making the noise increased by about 8 percent as air operations grew and the landing and take-off hours started earlier and ended later.

"Combined effects of increased operations, late night hours of operation, louder fleet mix and narrower flight paths may result in louder areas," Dunholter wrote in the report. "There are times of the day that there is near continuous aircraft noise."

Late evening, night, and early morning "are characterized by long duration events with little respite between events during busy periods." (It wasn't clear who hired Dunholter, who didn't respond to a call for information. But he was not hired by La Jollans, some of whom initially objected to the study methodology. Dunholter's LinkedIn profile and bios from the various seminars where he has presented suggest that he usually works for airport authorities and has worked as the airport noise officer at the Philadelphia airport as well as Midway and O'Hare in Chicago.)

Peters has been working with constituents to sort out claims that aircraft noise over La Jolla — and Point Loma — increased after the Federal Aviation Administration introduced a take-off and landing system called Metroplex to make the airspace work more efficiently. The phasing in of Metroplex (catchy slogan: “Optimizing the airspace above our cities”) started with the Point Loma area in November 2016; changes that affected La Jolla began in March 2017.

The Metroplex project is said to have saved $7.8 million in fuel, amassing a carbon reduction of more than 23,000 tons. The SoCal Metroplex includes airports from Palm Springs to Burbank, from Santa Barbara — including LAX — down to the international border. Other Metroplex projects involve areas all over the country, from Northern California to Washington DC, Chicago, and Houston.

Peters’s staff said the information in the letter, sent to several constituents, was based on preliminary data provided by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority during frequent and ongoing conversations with them about the noise complaints.

"The Congressman has and will continue to urge the Airport Authority to give serious and careful consideration to the recommendations made by the [airport noise advisory committee] and will be reaching out to City and County leaders urging them to address the noise concerns generated by the airports they oversee," Peters’s chief of staff, MaryAnne Pintar, said in an email.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed

Some residents of La Jolla Shores and Bird Rock say that U.S. Rep. Scott Peters’s undated letter that blames aircraft-noise increases on Montgomery-Gibbs Field is "nonsense."

Scott Peters

"The [San Diego County Regional] Airport Authority's noise specialists told Rep Scott Peters that was the case and Scott just regurgitated that information in a letter to constituents," Chris McCann wrote in an email on November 27th. "The vast, vast majority of noise complaints filed by residents in Birdrock have been against commercial traffic departing SAN."

Two weeks ago, a long-awaited aircraft noise study confirmed that La Jolla has seen an increase in aircraft noise since the Federal Aviation Administration made changes to how San Diego airspace is used. La Jolla is affected by aircraft from several different sources, including helicopters from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Montgomery Field, the report notes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Noise levels from SDIA (Lindbergh) operations on average were lower magnitude than non-SDIA aircraft operations, but started earlier and ended later in the day (when background noise is quieter)," airport acoustical engineering consultant Paul Dunholter wrote in his report.

While noise levels from individual flights did not change, the number of aircraft making the noise increased by about 8 percent as air operations grew and the landing and take-off hours started earlier and ended later.

"Combined effects of increased operations, late night hours of operation, louder fleet mix and narrower flight paths may result in louder areas," Dunholter wrote in the report. "There are times of the day that there is near continuous aircraft noise."

Late evening, night, and early morning "are characterized by long duration events with little respite between events during busy periods." (It wasn't clear who hired Dunholter, who didn't respond to a call for information. But he was not hired by La Jollans, some of whom initially objected to the study methodology. Dunholter's LinkedIn profile and bios from the various seminars where he has presented suggest that he usually works for airport authorities and has worked as the airport noise officer at the Philadelphia airport as well as Midway and O'Hare in Chicago.)

Peters has been working with constituents to sort out claims that aircraft noise over La Jolla — and Point Loma — increased after the Federal Aviation Administration introduced a take-off and landing system called Metroplex to make the airspace work more efficiently. The phasing in of Metroplex (catchy slogan: “Optimizing the airspace above our cities”) started with the Point Loma area in November 2016; changes that affected La Jolla began in March 2017.

The Metroplex project is said to have saved $7.8 million in fuel, amassing a carbon reduction of more than 23,000 tons. The SoCal Metroplex includes airports from Palm Springs to Burbank, from Santa Barbara — including LAX — down to the international border. Other Metroplex projects involve areas all over the country, from Northern California to Washington DC, Chicago, and Houston.

Peters’s staff said the information in the letter, sent to several constituents, was based on preliminary data provided by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority during frequent and ongoing conversations with them about the noise complaints.

"The Congressman has and will continue to urge the Airport Authority to give serious and careful consideration to the recommendations made by the [airport noise advisory committee] and will be reaching out to City and County leaders urging them to address the noise concerns generated by the airports they oversee," Peters’s chief of staff, MaryAnne Pintar, said in an email.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard
Next Article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader