Air rules needed

It was a gorgeous day today, Sunday, 30th January. I am a teacher and my husband and I have lived here five years. Except for the artillery noise from Camp Pendleton, which they usually inform us of, it has been a peaceful place too. We chose Fallbrook because of its relative tranquility in the midst of a Southern California building frenzy. I am sure many of you did the same.

However, I have been rudely awakened as of last October by jet noise coming from the south of us (Palomar Airport?), sometimes every 10 minutes starting at 6:30 in the morning. Add to that the high-flying but no less noisy jumbo jets that are going west-east (I have not figured out where they are coming from), and today… there was not a minute during the day when I was not exposed to private aircraft noise and the aircraft themselves flying over our property! I literally counted 50 aircraft in just one hour! Finally, frustrated and upset, I chose to go inside and try to get some peace and quiet.

I have already contacted Palomar Airport and spoken to Olivier Brackett, airport security and safety [(760) 431-4646, ext. 0], I went there and heard, from the staff, that hundreds of people are complaining. I was told that they have no plans to expand and yet I also found out that they have commercial jets flying to Las Vegas that started in September 2004. Mr. Brackett shared that there are only guidelines, not rules, about what time to take off and land. So I have been awakened several times by jet noise at three in the morning. Mr. Brackett gave me the noise complaint hot-line number [(310) 725-3638], but I have called several times and have received no call back. Perhaps if more people called…

I went online and discovered a wealth of information (netvista.net supplies more material about noise pollution and its nasty effects than I ever wanted to know-), including a group who call themselves the Palomar Airport Citizens Action Group. Unfortunately, that Web site was unavailable to open at the time, otherwise I would share the info.

Am I an activist? I am far too busy, but what I hope to achieve is a ground swell of opposition to noise pollution in Fallbrook. You see, it will only get worse as more people choose to fly private or won private airplanes that are increasingly jet-propelled. I am not against people owning airplanes, but we need some ground (air) rules right now. If we don’t do something, the noise will get worse, which will affect property values and the health of our community. I like to sit out on my deck, with coffee in hand, to plan my schoolwork. If I had wanted to stay inside, I would have chosen a different location. If you have any more information or ideas please write to the Village News or e-mail me at [email protected]. Please, only useful ideas or sympathy needed.