The LA Times has been following SMO, and last week there were six letters to the editor - four of them complained about the jets and couldn't wait to see SMO closed for that reason. I do not blame them - if continuous jets flew over my house I would be pissed. I am hoping our little airport can remain lightplane oriented, and survive.
This is what drives me crazy about these situations... People purchase a house near an airport (and I would bet money that 90+% of those people bought their houses long AFTER the SMO airport was established), knowing full well and good that they are buying a house near an airport, then complain because the airport is noisy. Didn't they check out the neighborhood before they purchased? I bet they checked the schools, the grocery stores, and commute routes. I bet they considered whether or not there were train tracks or a major freeway right behind their property. Why the heck would they not notice the airplanes continually flying overhead - especially if that noise bothers them so much?
What ever happened to 'personal responsibility' and 'due diligence' in these situations? Mad at someone because the home you purchased is noisy? Go after the seller, who is required by law to report that to the buyer, not after the "noise source" that almost certainly pre-dates the purchase of the property... And if the airport situation WAS disclosed before purchase, you just made a dumb decision. Own up to it, and either live with the consequences, or sell to someone who can / will do so, and get on with your life.
It's like the people near my home town who purchased houses right next door to what used to be the county landfill, with a high fence surrounding it, and signs every few feet that say "Posted - No Trespassing" and "Danger - Landfill Site" and "Danger - Methane gas exposure area" all around it... Now they are complaining about the garbage smells when the wind blows from that direction. They want the county to add another 10 feet (!) of treated earth over the top of the old site. And they want the county (meaning ME and the other county residents who were
not stupid enough to build right next to the dump site) to pay for it.
By the way, I live on 10.5 acres out in the country. It is so quiet here that when the donkey that lives almost 5 miles away from us brays, we can hear it quite clearly. And guess what? We also happen to be directly under the arrival path for airliners flying in from the NE toward both DFW and Love Field. An airliner passes overhear about every 2-3 minutes during the early morning and late afternoon, and about every 5 minutes the rest of the day. And they are flying at much lower altitudes, where you can clearly hear them pass overhead. We're also located directly under the "practice area" for several local flight schools operating out of three different local airports. When they are up there practicing stalls, spins, steep turns, etc. the "noise" is loud enough that I can run outside and watch them (and often do). But I knew all of this well before we purchased, because I made a point of visiting the property at several different times of the day. I made my decision to purchase this property knowing full well what I was getting into. Now I realize that as a pilot, the sound of those "training flights" that draws my attention are more like "music to my ears" but the point is I knew because I checked it out beforehand...
Just drives me crazy...