Mr. E.P. Benson, President of the Dover Shores Community Association, in Newport Beach, wrote to the Orange County Planning Commission on November 16, 1996, as follows: "Our community has experienced and had to endure the unpleasantness of living under the Airlines take-off flight route from John Wayne Airport ever since it opened as a Commercial Airport." Mr. Benson went on to argue for transferring that experience to the El Toro community.
There is one fact that residents near John Wayne and residents near El Toro agree upon. Homeowners are asked to "endure ... unpleasantness" when they have an airport for a neighbor. "Unpleasantness" is a euphemism for noise, air pollution, accident hazards and traffic.
The mantra of real estate professionals is "location, location, location" in the choice of a neighborhood in which to live. No one willingly chooses to buy a home with "unpleasant" neighborhood elements, under a flight path, next to a freeway, down wind from a refinery or beneath power lines, unless they are enticed by an attractive price for the property.
Real estate law requires sellers to reveal noise and other nuisance factors, including airports, in a Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement, prior to sale, so that prospective buyers are warned. This allows informed buyers to look elsewhere. or to lower their offers. It follows that home values will be substantially lower around an aviation reuse of El Toro than around a non-aviation use. Logic dictates that home values will be lower, around a heavily used major international airport, than around an infrequently used military base.
STUDIES MEASURE AIRPORT IMPACT
In 1994, the consulting firm of Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc. was commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration to prepare a study entitled, The Effect of Airport Noise on Housing Values: A Summary Report. Clearly, the FAA was concerned about this matter. The study developed a methodology for evaluating the impact of noise on housing values, by comparing market prices in similar neighborhoods that differed only in the level of airport related noise. The study found that the effect of noise on prices was highest in moderately priced and expensive neighborhoods. For two moderately priced "paired" neighborhoods north of LAX, the study found "an average 18.6 percent higher property value in the quiet neighborhood, or 1.33 percent per dB of additional quiet."
A 1996 study, funded by a grant from the Legislature of the State of Washington, used somewhat similar methodology and found that the proposed expansion of Seattle-Tacoma Airport would cost five nearby cities $500 million in property values and $22 million in real-estate tax revenue. The study of single family homes in "very good" condition, with "three or more bedrooms and two or more baths" and "excluding the most expensive and inexpensive units to provide more representative comparisons" found that "a housing unit in the immediate vicinity of the airport would sell for 10.1 percent more-- if it were located elsewhere."
The study also concluded that, "all other things remaining equal, the value of a house and lot increases by about 3.4% for every quarter of a mile the house is farther away from being directly underneath the flight track of departing/approaching jet aircraft". Click here for the full report, available to the El Toro Airport web site from the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs, a Washington State affiliate.
In 1997, Randall Bell, MAI, Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, Licensed Real Estate Broker and instructor for the Appraisal Institute, provided the results of his own professional analysis to the Orange County Board of Supervisors. After examining 190 sales comparables over the previous six months, in communities near LAX, John Wayne airport and Ontario Airport, Mr. Bell found a diminution in value due to airports averaging 27.4 percent.
ACTION AVAILABLE TO HOMEOWNERS
Realtors have reported cases where offers were withdrawn or lowered in the El Toro vicinity as a result of airport plans. Homeowners who believe that their property already has decreased in value can request reassessment. Appeals forms can be obtained from the County Assessor, PO Box 149, Santa Ana 92702 or call (714) 834-2941. Homeowners receive postcard Notices of Assessment each spring.
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