San Diego International Airport (SAN) is in the middle of bustling downtown San Diego. So it’s no surprise that due to its location, many residential, office buildings, schools, and community use buildings are within a few miles of the airport. If you’ve ever walked around downtown or enjoyed the open shopping and amenities at Liberty Station, you know airplanes fly overhead quite often on the way to SAN. These moments often call for a pause in conversation until the noise has passed…we locals call it the “Point Loma Pause.”
The Quieter Home Program (QHP), San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s (Airport Authority) residential noise mitigation program was established to retrofit dwellings and buildings with the installation of special windows, doors, and fresh air which lessened aircraft noise. The program focuses on the neighborhoods of Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Bankers Hill, South Park, and Golden Hill as they are within a certain designated area where the sound of aircraft noise is most noticeable.
The Airport Authority has a large team of people who work on the QHP projects including contractors, inspectors, and construction managers. Residents work with program coordinators whose primary role is to help residents understand what the program includes, the construction impacts, and the timeline.
The QHP team has continued their work throughout the pandemic (did you know: they are one of the only airport noise attenuation programs in the U.S. that continued working despite COVID-19!). The team is excited to begin working on an apartment complex, Loma Palisades, which has 548 units and was built in 1958. They are retrofitting each unit with acoustic windows and doors providing residents with some reprieve from aircraft noise throughout the day. The QHP team anticipates completing the units by spring of 2023 and when they do, this will be the largest project they have worked on to date!
If you live in the neighborhoods of Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Bankers Hill, South Park, and Golden Hill and think you can benefit from the Quieter Home Program, please click here for more information and requirements. You can also call the office at 619.400.2660.