Some years back I looked at houses in Toluca Lake. I remember one in particular because the description was quite attractive and it was priced way low for the area. Why? Turns out it backed right up to the Ventura (134) Freeway.

Vibration, dust and noise were constant. The backyard was almost unusable. The agent whispered in my ear that there was going to be a sound wall built and the value would really jump. I passed anyway. It took way longer than he intimated but the sound wall eventually got built.

So what’s wrong?

The eventual owner’s gain came at an enormous cost to taxpayers. He bought the property with full knowledge of the defect and enjoyed a drastically reduced cost. Taxpayers then corrected a known defect and enriched him.

Now I read in the Business Journal that the Santa Monica Municipal Airport is under attack again for normal daily operations. (“Dark Skies for Flight Schools? L.A. may move to shut Santa Monica Airport,” March 21). It’s exactly the same issue as the Toluca Lake house.

The Los Angeles City Council’s Janice Hahn and Bill Rosendahl met with residents and decried the fumes and noise from the airport. They did not note that there were fumes and noise the day the owners looked at the houses, the day they decided to buy, the day they opened escrow and the day they moved in. Did it ever occur to them to ask why the residents chose to buy, knowing all that? Am I supposed to feel sorry for someone, presumably a rational adult, who made a completely informed choice? A person who negotiated a reduced price based on those exact facts?

Everybody always trots out the safety and environmental red herring. They’re so-o-o-o scared and worried. So I ask, They do realize they also chose to be at the confluence of possibly the two busiest freeways in the United States? They do realize that the fumes from the airport are infinitesimal compared with that 24 hour-a-day barrage from the freeways?

Ban on auto traffic?

One pilot was killed last year. Have they checked the death and injuries from autos on the Westside? I will only take their concerns seriously if they demand a ban on auto traffic and try to close the Santa Monica (10) and San Diego (405) freeways. Otherwise it’s just smoke and mirrors to cover their real agenda.

In an ideal world, it would be good to make life nicer for these people but not at a cost to others. Close six flight schools? Destroy the value and equity those owners have built? Put all the people involved out of work? To unjustly enrich private property owners? How dare you even suggest it? In plain talk, that’s stealing.

Pandering must be part of a politician’s job description. They do it so well and without thinking. Do they always accept allegations without challenging them? Exercise some critical thinking, please. 

Flight schools are not regularly performing dangerous maneuvers. Flight schools don’t perform dangerous maneuvers because instructors have wives and kids to go home to, just for starters. A flight school that regularly performed dangerous maneuvers would not have many students nor remain in business very long. Any such maneuvers over populated areas are illegal. If you don’t understand, ask first to avoid looking uninformed. Think about it.

I actually live near the final flight approach path to Burbank. Not under it, mind you. I would not do that. But I am close enough that I see and hear planes go by. It would never occur to me to whine about it. I made the decision. To me that would be an admission that I was too dumb to figure that out.

Maybe I am. After all, I expect people to accept responsibility for their decisions.

Michael Gorman is owner of Vitaminerals, a Glendale nutritional supplement manufacturer.