Ventura County logs gripes as part of airport noise study

Dozens of Camarillo and Oxnard residents turned out to a pair of meetings this week to speak up about noise from two local airports.

The public workshops hosted by the Ventura County Department of Airports were part of an ongoing study to identify and address noise concerns at the facilities in each city. The department also gave an overview of the studies.

“The neighborhood has run out of patience,” Oxnard resident Ben Di Benedetto said Tuesday. He also serves on an advisory committee that works with the county and a consultant on the project.

On Monday night, about 65 residents attended a meeting focused on the Camarillo Airport. About 15 people took part in Tuesday's session for the Oxnard Airport.

Each group had separate noise complaints.

Keith Freitas, the county airports director, said Camarillo residents were concerned about jets flying over the city's Old Town area.

Oxnard residents, meanwhile, focused on small planes staying airborne for short periods for training and compliance purposes.

Paul Johnson, a Camarillo resident who has lived near the airport for more than 20 years, said noise starts in the morning and continues until evening. Because noise bounces off hills north of Camarillo, he said, airport sounds seem to come from every direction.

In Oxnard, Di Benedetto and his wife, Susan Blau, have lived near the airport since 2000 and have grown increasingly impatient with the noise.

Blau said there are days when planes fly overhead every three minutes. The couple is also concerned about airport growth and its use by larger, out-of-town planes.

Maximino Narcizo lives about three miles away in the La Colonia neighborhood but still hears airplane noise.

The noise and frequency seem to pick up in the afternoon, he said through a translator, and it negatively affects people and animals in his neighborhood.

“It can be really stressful and frustrating,” Narcizo said. “I myself enter into a state of desperation.”

In 2022, the Camarillo Airport recorded about 187,000 combined aircraft landings and departures, up from about 133,000 in 2012, according to data from the airports department.

The Oxnard Airport counted approximately 88,000 landings and departures last year. In 2012, the number was about 55,000.

Activity at both airports has fluctuated since 1992, the county numbers show.

The county is partnering with Coffman Associates, an airport consulting firm with offices in Arizona and Kansas, to conduct the noise studies. The studies will wrap up in about two years and are estimated to cost $795,000. 

This week’s workshops were the first of at least five meetings the county will host in coming years to collect feedback and update the public.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Camarillo, Oxnard residents voice airport noise complaints