Sandra Parker

Review of Douglas Aircraft Inc

I am pleased that the airport is closing. I lived ...

I am pleased that the airport is closing. I lived a few blocks away for 20 years and eventually moved away because of the noise pollution and the coating of black soot covering everything in the backyard. I knew that the airport was there when I purchased the property and I accepted the noise for years. But here's the problem that people who don't live there but like to fly in and out don't realize -- the world changed. Santa Monica is no longer a sleepy little town. The town grew and many more homes were built and the airport grew too, which is to be expected. But the volume of air traffic reached a point that it was impossible to watch tv or have a backyard party without some plane barreling overhead every few minutes. It would be reasonable to expect that the airport would grow, but it is not reasonable to accept the enormity of the change that occurred. Over the years, substantially more jets took off from the airport, especially after 9/11. It became a place for celebrities to avoid the hassles of LAX and also ignore the problems created for the neighbors. Despite the restrictions on noise, many pilots ignored them. And when the city banned a pilot for exceeding the noise level, the company would simply switch in another pilot. And when the city issued fines, many companies paid it and continued to violate the policy because the fine was a minimal cost of doing business. Planes were not allowed to take off at night, but they did anyway. So it became a classic growth problem and something had to change. For example, if a homeowner buys a home on a two-lane highway that becomes a freeway, there is a legitimate issue. Growth is expected but not to that level and it behooves the city to consider its residents first. What can the city do? In the case of Santa Monica, the city cannot relocate thousands of residents. Just because the airport existed in earlier days does not mean that it has a right to exist there forever. Just because someone has a business there does not mean that the business has a right to exist forever in that spot. Just because it's convenient for celebrities and small plane enthusiasts to use the airport does not outweigh the greater needs of thousands of residents. It's a balancing act. When an airport grows so exponentially in an area that has also grown exponentially with residents, the city must resolve the problem. And the city has more of a responsibility to residents than it does to the handful of business owners who wish to operate a business that is now located in a densely populated area. And the city also has more of a responsibility to residents than it does to nonresidents who wish to fly in and out of an airport that is now located in a densely populated area. The land belongs to the city and its residents. As a public policy issue, the airport became a liability for the city because the noise and jet fuel pollution negatively impacted the quality of life in the city. A compromise would be to create a nearby helipad for medical evacuations. Other airport needs could be fulfilled via LAX or other small and large airports around the Los Angeles area. The homes of residents cannot be moved, but the air traffic can be rerouted to other airports. It won't be as convenient, but in terms of balancing interests, the interests of the city and its residents are paramount to celebrities, a handful of business owners and recreational pilots, and the plethora of nonresidents finding it convenient to use the airport. I won't be back to this site because I don't wish to read the ad hominem attacks that my opinion will surely generate in these divisive times. My hope is that some of the people reading this post will understand how it felt to many residents. It's not that simple to just say that someone should move if they don't like it. People invest in their homes and perhaps can't afford to move. And such statements ignore the precept that a city must decide for itself what is in its best interests and that others must respect the city's right to do so.