Hawthorne Press Tribune
Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - April 12, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............2
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................3
Check It Out.........................2
Classifieds............................3
Film Review..........................2
Hawthorne Happenings....3
Legals................................ 4-7
Looking Up...........................7
Weekend
Forecast
Hawthorne Police Department
Hosts “Stop the Bleed” Course
The Hawthorne Police Department recently held a “Stop the Bleed” course. Pictured in the photo, Kristen Kraus RN, Robin Tyler RN and Antoinette Salas RN from Harbor UCLA Medical Center volunteered
their time to help teach the class. All three have extensive backgrounds in treating trauma patients and working in trauma centers. Photo: Hawthorne PD.
City Manager Updates Council on
Local Airport Noise Complaints
By Derrick Deane
In its first meeting of the month, the
Hawthorne City Council heard a detailed
report on the numerous noise and pollution
complaints that have stemmed over the years
from the Hawthorne Municipal Airport. City
Manager Arnie Shadbehr gave a comprehensive
report on how the City of Hawthorne has
logged and followed up on every complaint
presented by residents and also discussed
steps to address ongoing noise issues.
Shadbehr began by reading a passage
of an agreement residents in the airport
flight path were given upon purchasing
their residences. “All residential sale contracts
will include sufficient disclosure of
buyers in the proximity of the dwellings to
the Hawthorne Municipal Airport and the
railroad right of way and the potential noise
impact from aircrafts,” Shadbehr read of a
conditional disclosure agreement approved
by the City Council in 2007 for the Parkside
Village area despite some resistance from
the FAA, the Hawthorne Airport Office and
other entities.
The other main condition warned potential
residents that their dwellings would be located
in a flight path designated for the Hawthorne
Municipal Airport. “These [conditions] were
already there for current residents when they
were signing escrow agreements -- they were
supposed to be notified of this,” Shadbehr
said. “So when they call, I don’t want them
to think that the City is willfully ignoring
them. The issue is that they are right under
the flight path and there is no other way for
aircraft to land on the runway but to fly over
their homes over the recorded flight path.”
Many of the complaints that had been
logged addressed aircraft flying at a low
altitude. Shadbehr addressed this issue as
well. “Obviously they are descending, so
they are going to be [flying] low,” he said.
“Honestly, there is no solution to this. I cannot
sugarcoat this -- we have to be truthful
here. There is literally no solution. It’s like
somebody lives next to the railroad track
and complains why the train is coming. [It’s]
because you live next to the railroad track.
It’s as simple as that.”
Shadbehr added further that the City does
not control something that is under FAA
jurisdiction, but did state that it needs to
update the noise exposure maps every five
years. The main issue here is the amount of
time it takes from beginning the noise study
to actually getting it approved by the FAA.
One potential solution to the noise complaints
has been attempting to get grants
and funding for soundproofed windows for
residents. “We completed our noise study
last year and it got approved,” Shabehr said
of the process that began in 2011. “We’re
dealing with federal government. Some
people think that federal government is too
big. It’s not. In fact, the FAA district office
here on Aviation Boulevard is in charge of
70 airports, so it takes time. After they approve
it, it goes to Washington, D.C. for the
headquarter approval.”
Shadbehr reported that the City finally
received approval in November 2017 and,
aside from a pocket near SpaceX, the study
found that high noise levels are not emitting
out toward the Holly Park area or North
Hawthorne – thus making them ineligible
for window retrofitting.
“This is why we currently don’t have any
noise mitigation or sound attenuation grants
available,” Shadbehr said, adding that all of
the studies were done strictly according to
the FAA protocol. “It’s up to the federal
government based on the noise exposure maps
that can approve a grant for sound retrofit.”
A few residents have suggested a curfew
for when planes can operate at the airport.
Some believe that planes are not allowed
to fly after 10 p.m. “I have to apologize for
miscommunication or misunderstanding,”
Shadbher said. “We don’t have a curfew at
Hawthorne Airport. We’ve never had one.”
Shadbehr stated further that the larger
See City Council, page 8
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