NOISY DEBATE VAN NUYS AIRPORT SOUNDPROOFING A DIVISIVE ISSUE.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

Van Nuys Airport's offer to soundproof more than 1,000 homes has pitted neighbor against neighbor, splitting the otherwise unified fight against increasing jet noise.

Only those houses and apartments within a tightly defined boundary are eligible for the government-funded soundproofing, leaving neighbors just a fence or street away with no opportunity for relief.

At the same time, community activists - often from outside the area - are placing tremendous pressure on residents to refuse the soundproofing to protest what they say is an unacceptable solution to jet noise.

``I've had neighbors come over and say, 'Please don't have it done,' '' said Steve Milne, 50, a salesman who moved into a single-family house just south of the runway last year.

``These houses are 50 years old. For me not to take advantage of this as a homeowner would be foolish. If I go to sell it, it's only going to help.''

What everyone agrees on - including the airport - is that jet noise is expected to rise over the next few years, despite curfews and limits on new noisy jets.

But now the question of whether to insulate is being debated over backyard fences and in mailers, as the $15 million soundproofing project began last week. Those eligible endure an average of 65 decibels over 24 hours, about the level of a noisy restaurant or freeway traffic. The soundproofing would cut that by about 20 decibels.

Lon Marinos, 43, whose house on Hayvenhurst Avenue lies just outside the boundary where the state says the noise is excessive, is among those not entitled to the estimated $20,000 in improvements.

``They're going to skip us and give it to the guy on the corner,'' Marinos said. ``It's going to upset the balance of property values. You give a house a face lift with insulated windows, its value is going to go up and mine will stay the same.''

But some eligible homeowners, such as 79-year-old Carl Davison, want nothing to do with soundproofing, even though the World War II Navy veteran lives near the runway and describes the jet roar as ``hell at times.''

His reason: Accepting new double-paned windows, attic insulation and reinforced walls means he must sign over to the airport the right to the airspace over his house.

``I won't take it because in the end they put a little note on the deed to your property that you no longer have the right to sue the airport for anything,'' said Davison, a retired telephone company technician. ``I'm not going to give up my civil rights for a few pieces of glass and insulation.''

Maintaining the right to sue over noise is the main argument in a grass roots effort by anti-noise activists, particularly from Homeowners of Encino, to convince airport neighbors to refuse the soundproofing.

In April, the homeowners group mass mailed the 1,053 residents eligible for soundproofing a list of 12 ``Reasons Why Not to Have Your Home Soundproofed.''

They have further warned that people who take the soundproofing could be sued by their neighbors - for contributing to the noise problem by helping the airport meet state noise regulations and possibly grow even louder.

Homeowners of Encino President Gerald Silver said he was not telling people what to do, just helping them make an informed decision.

He said he hopes enough people will refuse so that it sends a message to the airport.

``By not soundproofing it tells the airport they're the ones that have to quiet down, not the residents,'' Silver said.

Yet Silver and others concede the prospects of suing the airport are remote, given that he and about 30 other residents abandoned one such lawsuit about 15 years ago when the airport moved to put a lien on their homes pending the litigation.

``You're going up against a bureaucracy that has endless money - they could drag it on for 50 years,'' said Dick Wilkinson, 63, who is eligible but undecided on soundproofing because he has already spent $10,000 on double-paned windows but has seen little relief.

Other community activists take a more neutral stance, seeing the soundproofing as a necessary compromise.

``I resent someone who doesn't live within the 65 (decibel boundary) advising people what to do with the rest of their lives and property values,'' said Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners' Association. ``There's no question Sherman Oaks and Encino get noise from the airport but these 1,000 houses get the most because they're right on the perimeter.''

The soundproofing program was officially launched last week, just days after the state Department of Transportation said the airport will no longer be considered excessively loud if it soundproofs the homes and continues to monitor the noise.

Anti-noise activists are mounting a legal challenge to the decision.

But for now, if the airport simply offers soundproofing on a voluntary basis, the noise problem will be remedied, at least as far as the state is concerned.

``Once this is completed and they did a number of offers to homeowners then theoretically the home is believed to be in compliance whether they got the soundproofing or not,'' said Nancy Niles, the Los Angeles World Airports' community outreach director for soundproofing programs.

The project, funded by LAWA with expected federal reimbursement, aims to reduce the noise in the 242 houses and 811 apartments by about 20 decibels.

The first meeting with eligible homeowners is set for Tuesday, with construction to begin in about nine months.

Those homes that qualify are within an area where the noise hits 65 or more decibels over a 24-hour period, which the state Department of Transportation considers excessive.

A similar project to soundproof about 9,000 homes around Los Angeles International Airport was launched in 1997. So far, it has had a 90 percent participation rate among the first 1,000 or so homeowners.

``Early on it's a little slow in getting started but once the neighbors see how it improves the quality of life it spreads by word of mouth and it builds,'' Niles said.

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo: (color) Resident Lance Paris stands in his back yard near Van Nuys Airport. His house is not eligible for soundproofing.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

Map: Muffling jet noise

Bradford Mar/Staff Artist