On August 21, 2018 the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) issued the following statement:
“The FAA is proposing to update two existing routes for aircraft that depart off Runway 15 at Hollywood Burbank Airport. The purpose of the updates is to keep Burbank Runway 15 departures better separated from LAX arrivals to the south and from aircraft that are arriving to Burbank’s Runway 8. The navigation points for the proposed route updates are over the mountains south of Sherman Oaks. However, air traffic controllers would vector some aircraft off the proposed routes, just as they do today. The FAA has not completed the environmental review for the proposed route updates and has not made a final decision on implementing them.”
Naturally, the residents of Studio City are concerned about the environmental impact, the noise, and the impact on housing prices. Those readers who are familiar with the San Diego area would be right to envision the Banker’s Hill area, where the planes make their descent into the San Diego airport.
A petition has been started to combat the changes proposed by the FAA, which includes roughly 170 daily departures, which would require planes to fly over high-altitude neighborhoods, schools, and parks in the Studio City, Sherman Oaks, and Encino areas. This petition can be found here. Note that August 23, 2018 is the last day to sign the petition.
The petition takes issue with the OROSZ 3 and SLAPP 2 flight paths because they will result in poor quality of air as well as ongoing noise associated with the planes’ take-offs. Specifically, the petition notes that the interplay between canyon acoustics and the massive decibel levels created by jets has not been studied, and its estimated that the echo created by this interplay could last upwards of a minute-and-a-half. The petition further notes the absence of an environmental impact report on the effect of planes flying between 1,700 and 3,200 feet above ground level; specifically, the impact of the particles emitted by jets which are heavier than the air and will necessarily reach ground level. Another issue the petition notes, is the impact of the noise on 4-F designated park land, public recreation locations, and wildlife habitats.
Read here for more information on Studio City for Quiet Skies. At the Chernov Team we keep our thumb on the pulse of all things real estate, especially real estate in the Studio City, Sherman Oaks, and Encino markets. New flight paths over these areas are likely to have significant impact on the housing market.