The Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Association, at the request of Tom Labonge at the Summer 2010 meeting, formed a tourism committee. Soon thereafter we formed a subcommittee to deal with the noise from tourist and other aircraft overhead. This committee consists of board members and non-board members as well as reps from the Oaks Association. The committee has been attending the Van Nuys Airport Citizen's Advisory Committee every month. We have received much helpful guidance from this group.

As to whom the culprits are, fingers are pointing in all directions. The helicopter tour operators say that our skies are filled with emergency aircraft. The emergency resources say that they have to compete with the tour rides. And then there are the film crews and the wealthy commuters. So who's really responsible for the abundant traffic up there? We need to evaluate who the worst offenders are and where the greatest impact originates. Fortunately, there is a way to do this.

One of the tools the Van Nuys Airport Citizen's Advisory Committee shared with us is called WebTrak. It is an internet-based aircraft tracking tool. Here is how to use it:

First, the good news is that you don't have to race to your computer to track these flights when they occur. WebTrak has a replay feature. If you're in your garden or out on your balcony or on the patio, or walking your dog or jogging through the neighborhood, an aircraft flies too low, hovers too long, circles your area over and over again, causes your home to shake, interrupts your conversations or just generally causes a disturbance, just write down the date and time of day. If you can see the aircraft, include the description and direction of travel. Then, when you have time, log into the WebTrak:

http://www331.webtrak-lochard.com/webtrak/vny4

You will see this display:

Left click your mouse over the map area and drag the map so that Beachwood Canyon is in the center of the display. You can use the plus (+) minus (-) map control to increase or decrease the map magnification.

In the lower left of the window, click on the "flights" tab. You will see the following controls:

Uncheck the MODE box in order to replay. Then enter the date of the offending flight using the calendar icon to the right of the date display and use the up-down buttons to the right of the time display (military time) to set the time. Go down to "Replay Speed" and move the slider to the right so the speed is increased. You can adjust the speed from 1x (real time) to 10x. Then click the Play button. You will be able to see an icon of the offending aircraft flying over Beachwood Canyon. Above the Play button there are three buttons that allow you the Stop, Resume and Pause the replay.

WebTrak has the ability to indicate the type of aircraft:

When you put your cursor over the aircraft icon, a window will pop up to tell you information about that aircraft. Sometimes, it will only tell you the elevation. This software isn't perfect nor is the technology that created it. Sometimes, it will seem like you are looking at two aircraft when suddenly one disappears, and some of the time it will not display the correct icon unless the aircraft has a transponder and WebTrak can pick up its signal.

Here's what we need: We need to know the date and time the helicopter or fixed wing aircraft flew over Beachwood Canyon. The more information you can give, the more we have to report. If you have an interest, you can follow the aircraft to its destination by dragging the map to keep the aircraft track in the map display area as the aircraft travels on it path. Log where the aircraft landed and the time. You can also find out where it came from by setting the replay time a few minutes before and see what aircraft track ended over Beachwood Canyon. Then you can repeat this step until you find the take-off point. Airports have a record of the identity and time aircraft depart and arrive. We will be able to correlate that data with our own tracking information to identify the culprits.

Our plan is to collect this data in order to bring real information to the helicopter pilots association. We hope to encourage them to use the fly friendly approach to our neighborhood and possibly increase their elevation to 800 feet above ground level (vs. above sea level). Your help can be valuable as we move forward to solutions to the impacts that tourism has on our community - both in the air and on the ground.

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For Immediate Release

July 28, 2011

Congressman Howard Berman Heeds Calls From Valley Residents, Introduces Bill to Curb Helicopter Related Noise and Safety Concerns

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Howard L. Berman introduced legislation to provide Los Angeles County residents relief from the ear-shattering noise and safety concerns caused by low-flying helicopters above residential neighborhoods.  The Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act of 2011, H.R. 2677, would force the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to restrict helicopter flight paths and set minimum altitudes within 12 months.

"Residents deserve relief from the thunderous clacking of helicopter blades hovering directly over their homes, and instead all they've been getting is the runaround from government agencies," said Congressman Berman.  "The buck stops here because it is simply unacceptable for residents to be forced to contend with these brazen helicopter operators on their own.  This bill requires the regulations that will give residents the relief and increased safety they are so desperately looking for."

"Helicopters are hovering right above our homes at all hours of the morning and night.  It's the wild, wild West up there and until now nobody has been taking control," noted Richard Close, President of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association.  "Our community appreciates Congressman Berman's willingness to work with us and tackle this issue head on.  This is about our quality of life and the safety and privacy of residents across the Valley.  Finally, someone is listening and something is being done."

Currently, residents across Los Angeles are battling intrusive and disruptive low-flying helicopter traffic above their neighborhoods.  San Fernando Valley residents suffer more than most from the foundation-rattling flyovers due to the heavy helicopter traffic in and out of the Van Nuys Airport.  When residents have attempted to address this disturbance they've reached a dead end, unable to find a way to require helicopter operators to change their behavior.

The FAA has refused to regulate helicopter flights above Los Angeles.  This failure to act is what allows helicopter operators to fly in a manner that creates excessive noise pollution and jeopardizes the safety and privacy of residents in their homes.  Additionally, this refusal by the FAA to set regulations above Los Angeles has left residents without any means to seek and secure relief from the problem.

Congressman Berman's bill solves this problem by requiring the FAA to exercise its explicit legal authority to regulate helicopter operations above Los Angeles within 12 months of being signed into law.  Specifically, the bill calls for the Administrator of the FAA to set guidelines on flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter operators in residential areas of Los Angeles County.  Exemptions would be allowed for law enforcement, emergency responders, and the US military.

Earlier this year, Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York successfully included an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill, which passed the Senate, requiring similar regulations to helicopter operations above Long Island.  This legislative precedent lays the groundwork to require regulations be put in place to curb aggressive helicopter operations above residential areas in Los Angeles.

The following information comes from Citizens for Quiet Helicopters, a South Bay group whose concerns are similar to ours and also to that of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association:

The FAA has an Advisory (AC 91-36) that recommends for noise abatement that pilots of all aircraft, including helicopters, fly at or above 2000 ft. when flying over noise-sensitive residential areas. To download AC 91-36, click the following link:

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/208330d7efad2bf9862570650070769f/$FILE/AC91-36d.pdf

The Helicopter Association International (HAI) has a publication called the "Fly Neighborly Guide" which has a lot of good information. They suggest that 65 dB of noise is generally acceptable. However, they have a more recent Noise Abatement Training CD that is more refined. It states that the acceptable level of noise differs between low and high ambient noise areas and it contains a chart copied below.

This chart suggests that for low ambient noise areas (such as residential) the acceptable noise level is below 60 dB.  Here is a link to the HAI web site: http://www.rotor.com/   You can find a copy of the Fly Neighborly Guide under the tab "Operations" and you can download a copy of the Noise Abatement Training CD under the tab "Resources."  In order to produce under 60 dB of noise on the ground, helicopters would need to fly above 2,000 ft.  I verified this in conversation with one of the main authors of the training program.

According to noise consultants, the acoustics industry recognizes that noise begins to interfere with outdoor speech communication at 60 dB, which is well below the level of noise usually produced below a typical helicopter flight. This proves that helicopters do interfere with normal living activities. You can find a discussion of this on page 46 of a report done by consultants Harris, Miller, Miller, and Hanson by downloading the following: http://www.sierrafoot.org/local/noise/VORDME_Tech_Memo_Final.pdf

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New Boundaries Released  

The State Redistricting Commission has created its final boundaries and they fail to measure up to the community of interest concerns of Beachwood Canyon. After we initially viewed their first draft boundaries, we submitted suggestions to have the area of the Santa Monica Mountains east of the Hollywood Freeway be in the same district as the portion of the mountains to the west. The final draft boundaries bear no resemblance to the first draft. The Santa Monica Mountains are now split into three districts. Our area to the east of the Hollywood Freeway is now in the same district as Burbank, Glendale and portions of the Angeles National Forest.

The State Senate boundary is particularly bad because the Beachwood Canyon area is split in half.

To see the final draft of the Redistricting Commission's final draft boundaries, go to http://swdb.berkeley.edu/gis/gis2011/.

Send your comments and concerns to the Redistricting Commission at the following link:

http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/contact.html

Let them know that you don't want Beachwood Canyon split up nor do you want to be separated from the rest of the Santa Monica Mountains.  

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Councilmember Tom LaBonge who introduced the council motion that placed the measure on the ballot and served on the campaign committee, said, "A big thanks to the people of Los Angeles for passing Measure L, which ensures the funding for restoring hours at our city libraries. 'L' stands for libraries and 'L' stands for love. The passage of Measure L proves that we in Los Angeles love our libraries."    

"By reopening our libraries on Mondays, we reopen the doors of opportunity for thousands of children and families who look to their local library as a place of learning, safety, and community," said Council President Eric Garcetti, who also served on the campaign committee. "I was proud to co-author Measure L to ensure our libraries continue to serve Angelenos for generations to come."

The Los Angeles Public Library serves the largest and most diverse population of any library in the nation. Its Central Library, 72 branch libraries, more than six million books, and state-of-the-art technology accessible at www.lapl.org, provide everyone with free and easy access to information and the opportunity for life-long learning.  

New library service hours starting July 18:  

Central Library

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday & Thursday: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Sunday & holidays: closed  

Regional Libraries

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday & Thursday: 12:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Sunday & holidays: closed  

Branch Libraries*

Monday, Wednesday & Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday & Thursday: 12:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Friday: 1:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Sunday & holidays: closed  

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Cinnamon stick is around a year old. She was found on Labrea and Washington one month ago, around midnight. She was running back and forth looking on the pavement for a break in traffic. I was able to rescue her by luring her with Parmesan cheese. She was incredibly scared at first and kept running away until I opened my back door and threw pieces of cheese on the back seat! It finally worked.

She has come a long way in a month. She is still very sensitive to noise, cars, and helicopters. She gets along well with my two smaller dogs. She needs someone incredibly dedicated and tender. She has been fixed and chipped thanks to the generosity of a friend of mine, and has all her shots. I would keep her myself but I have 2 little critters.

Cinnamon needs to be adopted and if she doesn't work out, I am happy to have her back with no questions asked. She is fully potty trained, loves to cuddle, and has a sweet disposition. She is a bit sensitive to the word "No" and it's clear that her previous owner must have yelled at her or worse. She needs lots of love. It's unknown whether she is good with children. She weighs around 18 pounds and does not shed a bit. Please contact me, if you want to set up a meeting time.

Benedicte Butaye at Benestudio@yahoo.com