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By Dan Abendschein and Nicole Charky of Montrose Patch
May 5, 2012
A bill to regulate helicopter noise in Los Angeles County has been introduced in the House and Senate and federal authorities are planning a study on the issue.
As anyone who lives within a few miles of Kinneloa Mesa in Altadena can attest, Thursday's bear media circus included about six or seven hours of helicopter noise from media outlets taking aerial footage of the mama bear and cubs who climbed a tree in the area.
The same incident happened last month in Montrose-La Crescenta, where--at one point--eight helicopters circled the area above a roaming bear as a texting pedestrian walked in its direction, near Briggs and Montrose avenues.
Plainly, many people quickly became fed up with the racket in Montrose and also in Altadena; here are excerpts of some of the comments from Patch stories and Altadena Patch's Facebook feed Thursday:
• There have been three helicopters, at times four, flying above these bears for almost six hours. You think mamma might be a little scared by now? - marcia coppess
• You want to see a bear - go to the zoo. Meanwhile, get the choppers and people out of there and let the bears have some peace and quiet. Has anyone considered what it costs to operate a chopper, even for just one hour? This whole thing is totally ridiculous! - Althea Frahm
• I understand it's "news" and all, but get the shot for a few seconds and MOVE ON! I live down by the 210 and I could hear them all day! Good grief! Have some respect for the people who live around there, quit scaring the bears and STOP! - Karin Luster
Helicopter noise is an issue all over Los Angeles County, and several local congress members sponsored a bill last summer that would instruct the Federal Aviation Administration to start regulating it. One of them, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, also represents Altadena and Montrose-La Crescenta.
The main sponsor of the bill, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, cited helicopter traffic near the Van Nuys Airport as well as helicopters doing tours of famous people's homes as the main reasons for introducing the bill.
So far, discussion of the bill has focused on the San Fernando Valley: there was a forum on the issue held in Studio City in January, and the bill received a congressional committee hearing in October.
But the bill would apply to all of L.A. County - it would exempt law enforcement, but news choppers would be subject to regulation, according to a congressional staffer who spoke with Patch about the issue on Friday.
The bill could work its way through the House and Senate slowly: the same staffer said the next step is for the FAA to study helicopter noise impacts and issue a report on the subject.
See the article here .
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