Airplanes vs Leaf Blowers

 Long Beach 3rd District concerns over leaf blowers noise and pollution-Hey try airplanes!

In case you missed the latest noise controversy in Long Beach, it's coming out of the upscale 3rd District neighborhoods of  Belmont Shore and Belmont Heights. No not late night JetBlue flights...but a campaign against the upscale problems associated with leaf blowers. The  Campaign Against Leaf Blowers has been playing out on the editorial page and letters to the editor of the Grunion Gazette.

Councilwomen Suize Price

In the February 26, 2016 Grunion Gazette community editorial called Another View ,  Long Beach Third District Councilwomen Suzie Price and Belmont Heights Community Association Board member John Shisko  co-authored    ANOTHER VIEW: Is It Time To Ban Leaf Blowers?  (Click on: Another View). In the opinion piece, the two lay out a quality-of-life argument about the noise and environmental impact of  leaf blowers and ring an alarm to begin the process of outlawing them in Long Beach:

"We know that you have all experienced the noisy buzzing of a leaf blower in a neighbor’s yard while you tried to rest, read or enjoy time in your home. It is well documented that leaf blowers produce extreme levels of nuisance noise and air pollution. Volume exceeds 75 decibels at 50 feet, and landscapers often run two or more simultaneously."

One missing fact in their writing is that the councilwomen and community advocate seem at that time of the writing to be unaware of the current LB Noise Ordinance  8.80.20 against early morning leaf blowing activities (enforced by the LB Noise Control Officer) outlawing blowing within 400 feet of a residence M-F before 7 am, Saturday before 9 am and Sunday before 11 am.  Price and Shisko write:

"The city might also consider enacting a leaf blower noise ordinance where hours of operation are restricted to a specific period of time during the week when people are less likely to be home.

Perhaps a restriction could be placed on weekend landscaping services when many families are home and may become perturbed by noisy leaf blowers."

Honestly we understand most residents may not know they are protected by ordinance from a multitude of noise (click on LB Noise Control) that is strictly enforced by the  Long Beach Noise Control Officer.   Sadly however, residents of the 4th District and 8th District have empathy with noise ordinance violations as we live daily with them.  The other  Long Beach Noise Ordinance- Long Beach Airport Noise Ordnance   that 4th and 8th District residents daily look to for protection " to rest, read or enjoy time in your home"  is routinely broken by the airlines and appears to be constantly under attack.

Meanhile, the residents of the two airport impacted districts, must remain forever vigil against the constant threat of losing in  a court procedure the only ordinance that is designed to protect us .

In subsequent editions of the Grunion Gazette the Campaign Against Leaf Blowers  has morphed into an all out District 3 War Against Noise in the published letters to the editors on the subject.  In the most recent edition of March 17, 2016 in the Our Mailbox  section (click on Mailbox) under the banner of Quality of Life, Belmont Heights resident Kevin Doherty writes:

"Growing numbers of residents in Belmont Heights, weary of leaf blowers have banded together. It will not be long before Long Beach takes long overdue action to outlaw these machines. The loud noise, gasoline exhaust, debris storms shuffling trash from lawn to street or someone else’s property makes no sense at all. The practice compromises quality of life for many of us while we walk or when we are indoors."

Without trying to sound glib Mr. Doherty, welcome to our world of the 4th and 8th districts- the world of daily airlines that to many of your fellow citizens daily compromises quality of life for many of us while we walk or when we are indoors."

Mr. Doherty does not stop with leaf blowers- he goes on to write:

"High decibel music, thunderously booming bass beats from inside cars parked on neighborhood streets at night shakes our house windows, is clearly harmful to the ears of passengers, and wakes us up at night. This is lunacy and guess who will have to foot the medical bills for these masochists when they lose their hearing?

Another area of growing concern is the flagrant violation of municipal codes regarding pet ownership. Increasing numbers of dogs, sometimes several per household, have resulted in epidemic levels of loud barking that often goes unnoticed and unchecked by pet owners. Dog barking steals the sanctity of our interior space, undermines fundamentals of sleep, peaceful meals, indoor conversation, study time and our need to unwind after a hard day at work."

While trying to protect the  Long Beach Airport Noise Ordnance the 4th and 8th District residents are often taken to task as NIMBY's -standing in the way of progress, or ridiculed for buying a home in an area of the city that has a flight path.  This despite the fact that when most bought homes, the flights were less and the airport was smaller.  Just imagine if those same arguments were levied against the upscale neighborhoods that Councilwomen Price represents:

The NIMBY's of the Shore and Belmont Heights knew when they moved into their houses that the trees, plants, grass and bushes were there, and that they would grow and need to be trimmed, and that landscape companies used leaf blowers for homes in neighborhoods where people were  accustomed  to having a lawn service...now they want to turn back progress!   

Of course, the residents of the Shore and Belmont Heights would be rightly indignant at such arguments-as are the residents of the 4th and 8th Districts who suffer these characterizations from airport expansionists.

We do respect Long Beach Third District Councilwomen Suzie Price and Belmont Heights Community Association Board member John Shisko focus on quality of life issues- it is something that the 4th and 8th District residents are too painfully aware. We also remember that Councilwomen Price supported the 4th and 8th District's request that the JetBlue International Airport item not be taken up by the Long Beach City Council until after the Special Election that gave the 4th District voice.   The issues that Councilwomen Price and Mr. Shisko make in their co-authored    ANOTHER VIEW: Is It Time To Ban Leaf Blowers?  are valid: quality of life; nuisance noise; and air pollution.  However, they are valid for all of  Long Beach and something that the 4th and 8th Districts have been fighting about for years-for our homes, our schools and our outdoor gathering places.   

Taking liberty with  Councilwomen Price and Mr. Shisko's writing, below we have changed their original Grunion Gazette community editorial by taking out the leaf blowing references and changing them (italicized underlined bold text) to airport verbiage (with white highlghted hyper links to citations) to illustrate our point that quality of life, nuisance noise, and air pollution are shared Long Beach values:

_________________________________________________________

ANOTHER VIEW:

Is It Time To Ban the International Terminal?

Not another international airport..

We know that you have all experienced the noisy buzzing of a helicopter, small plan or jetliner while you tried to rest, read or enjoy time in your home. It is well documented that aircraft produce extreme levels of nuisance noise and air pollution. Airbus jet models can exceed 100 decibels and often land or take-off in succession.

The Enviormental Protection Agency states that this noise level degrades quality of life. While the noise seems to be everywhere and at all times, when it comes to aircraft, the polition that these devices create cannot be ignored.  Recent studies sugjest that aircraft cause more CO2 emissions that contribute more  to global warming gases than all the planet's automobiles combined. Flying turns out to be on the average 50 times worst than driving in terms of five-year global warming impacts.

In sum, these airports transfer people from one place to another-often ending up leaving the airport city for other destinations. Other than speedy transfer of international travelers from point A to point B, there are really no benifits to an international terminal at the Long Beach Airport.

Statewide, there are already 10 international airports: Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange County, Ontario, San Bernardino, Palm Springs, and San Diego. Six of the 10 are in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange County, Ontario, San Bernardino, Palm Springs, and San Diego. Both Los Angeles and Orange County are within 30 minutes of Long Beach. One of the international airports has a passenger terminal, but no passenger flights- San Bernardino International.

Considering whether to allow an international terminal in a city can be controversial. Some people want the airport to expand at all costs and therefore choose to overlook the negative effects of an international terminal. Yet, in a city with one of the largest and busiest ports in the world, Long Beach should consider the positive enviormental outcomes in denying an international terminal could have on reducing the total amount of particulate matter in the city's atmosphere.

Certainly, there are alternatives avaiable for Long Beach. In addition to the option of a total ban of international flights, the city could also look at requiring airlines to invest in cleaner fuel technology, and quieter aircraft models, which would help mitigate some negative impacts. 

Perhaps a restriction could be placed on weekend airport flights when many families are home and may become perturbed by noisy aircraft.

Homeowners who favor the international terminal  should also consider the economic repercussions that allowing an  international terminal  could have on the giant airline companies. While  driving to Los Angeles or Orange County  is without a doubt more environmentally friendly, they are significantly less appealing. The consumer may have to absorb a higher cost to balance the additional time incurred in travel.

In our opinion, the negative impacts of the international terminal and noise pollution generated by aircraft far outweigh any benefits to their operators or to the homeowners that pay for the service.

In a city and climate where heat wave records are being broken in the heart of an El Niño season, fall and winter are not producing seasonal changes that lead to large quantities of international travelers. There rarely seems to be an appropriate occasion where another international terminal could speed up the urge for international travel.

It seems that the Long Beach Airport as it is, can be effective and are far less polluting.

We want to know what you think. Please let us know how you feel about an international terminal by sending us an email at district3@longbeach.gov.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Councilwomen Price, Mr. Shisko, Mr. Doherty and other we can assure you, the residents of the 4th and 8th share your pain on noise and the quality of life because our quality of life battle is a daily constant occurrence over our heads.  

To paraphrase Mr. Doherty's  ending of his 3/17/16 Letter to the Editor in the Grunion Gazette:

 We work hard and pay dearly to own homes in Los Altos, Stearns Park, Aircraft Manor, Bixby Knolls and California Heights. We deserve basic human consideration and quality of life guaranteed under law.

Follow local updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lb4th