City Endorses Federal Bill on Residential Helicopter Noise Relief

Whether it's emergency landings at Cedars-Sinai medical center or a media blitz flying overhead, noisy helicopter traffic has long plagued West Hollywood. Now on the heels of winning a dispute with the Sofitel hotel over a , the City Council is supporting a pending federal bill that could restrict helicopters in residential areas across Los Angeles County.

“Cities have been deeply involved in urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to better manage helicopters in dense urban areas. The disturbances to residents are intolerable,” West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore Jeffrey Prang said in an announcement on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, helicopters and other aircraft are under the sole jurisdiction of the federal government, not the city, county or state. There is no resolution, ordinance, or statute that the city can adopt that would be legal or enforceable.”

Residents in West Hollywood West, an area made up of almost 1,000 single-family homes north of Beverly Boulevard, first complained about media mogul Ryan Kavanaugh's noisy comings and goings from the Sofitel's landing pad in September 2010.

In early December, Caltrans issued a cease and desist order, as the hotel did not have the proper permits for nonemergency landings. Shortly after that, the Sofitel proposed using its emergency evacuation helicopter pad for commercial use. 

Councilmen John Duran and John D’Amico immediately wrote to the California Department of Transportation. “We want to emphatically convey to you our opposition to the issuance of a permit to allow nonemergency flights to land at the Sofitel hotel," their letter read. They also wrote that such landings would be “detrimental to the quality of life and health of our residents.”

The hotel withdrew its plan to use the emergency evacuation helicopter landing pad for commercial landings in early April.

The Los Angeles Residential Noise Relief Act of 2011 (HR 2677) is sponsored by Rep. Howard Berman and co-sponsored by Reps. Brad Sherman and Henry Waxman.

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