Santee plane & helicopter noise is relentless (San Diego, Lakeside: for sale, condo)

[dakicka]

I recently purchased my first home (a real nice newer townhome complex) in Santee. I had lived in Downtown San Diego for 6 years and loved it, but was excited to finally be able to afford a much larger 2 bedroom with garage, gated community and a real nice pool!

I was so pumped until weeks after moving in I realized these planes and helicopters are so often. They travel so low overhead and are extremely loud. There are sheriff and news copters most nights as late as 12am and 1am! This is just nuts. I hear planes pretty much 9-12 times per hour and helicopters 3 to 4x an hour. It's made my life and daily living very stressful and I have a constant feeling of anxiety waiting for the next buzzing sound overhead.

Even with my windows and doors completely closed and heavy blackout curtains in my bedroom, I still hear them loudly. I can't sleep until 1am and am woken up by them again at 715am.

I feel like now I live in a real classless area and it makes me feel trashy. I take no pride in living in Santee and I am already considering listing my house for sale now 2 months later. This is extremely frustrating because the town itself is so clean, new feeling, has great restaurants, outdoor activities (hiking, biking, trails, fishing, sports fields). There's surprisingly a lot to do for a suburban community, and it's only a 18 minute drive ($25 Uber ride) to the action in Downtown San Diego. And all in all its a fairly safe and friendly community. I just feel like I live in an inner city with all the noise. On top of the helicopters and planes from that damn Gillespie Field, military helicopters, sometimes in groups of 3 to 5 at a time fly overhead at least 3 or 4 times a day. If I'm outside talking to someone out and about in Santee or even sitting at my computer in my home office on the phone, I have to stop a conversation mid sentence to wait for the loud helicopter sounds to cease. It's really disappointing.

Why do I post on here? 1. To Vent. 2. To see if anyone else shares my frustration. 3. To see if anyone knows a viable solution besides of course moving. Because I'm NOT getting used to it! Thanks!

[Encinitan]

This is the kind of thing most people would look into and notice before buying a house.

[dakicka]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

This is the kind of thing most people would look into and notice before buying a house.

Thanks for the groundbreaking assessment ☺. I of course did visit the house before purchasing, and spent a good 15 minutes around the complex and in the house on 3 separate occasions. For whatever reason, the sounds/air traffic weren't happening at the exact instance I was there.

[GER308]

Despite the old "Klantee" white trash reputation Santee has become pretty nice and since the 52 it is close to the beach. I haven't lived there since 99 and the last time I was there for a visit as my mom was still alive was 2010. I never noticed more noise than anywhere else in SD ( ok had been in Pt. Loma and OB before) I think you are whining and should harden the f**k up. Miss climbing Misson Gorge, Santee Boulders, running and Mtn. biking Mission Trails...

[cruitr]

You can file a noise complaint:
http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/conten...Complaints.pdf

[malcorub16]

I live in Lakeside South of the 67 so we are in the flight path of Gillespie Field as they come in for landings. Luckily, where we are at, the airplanes (don't usually hear/see choppers) do not fly at such low elevations as they still have a couple of miles before landing. Also, the planes tend to be smaller from single engine planes to private jets so they are not very noisey.

Ocassionally there will be air shows with the older model airplanes, those tend to make a lot of noise as they fly around some times up to 5-6 at one time.

Don't know what to tell you... but I thought I would share my experiences with the same airplanes.

Do you live in Sky Ranch area which overlooks the airport?

[Cardiff Kook]

I deal with freeway noise at my place in Cardiff but I certainly don't feel like i live in a trashy area. I was also aware of this before I bought..

[elchevere]

funny you never noticed helicopter noise when you lived downtown, which I thought was as bad as the freight trains prior to the implementation of the Quiet Zone...it bothered me (felt like I was living in a war zone), but I contacted--with success-- the news channels whose helicopters were flying overhead and asked them to take into consideration the hours they were flying (I believe they are required to fly minimum 400 feet above ground) and the length of time they were circling over a specific area--i.e. seemingly, my condo complex.You should be able to identify which news station helicopter is flying overheard by sight--then go on Google to find their website and contact the General Manager or News Manager ..they were fairly responsive to my emails and almost always got back to me.

I also contacted local SDPD and FAA via Lindbergh Field to lodge complaints...be persistent and professional and, perhaps, they can adjust their flight paths...in the case of the police, they often use it to assist ground patrols in pursuit of criminals or trying to identify their location so I'm afraid there is nothing you will be able to do about that...regardless, I have noticed a dramatic decrease in helicopter noise as a result of my efforts (as well as those of others whom I solicited)...If your neighbors are bothered by the noise also, have them contact the news stations, FAA, SDPD, etc. as well....Good luck.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

I spent days, not 45 min, at our area before we bought. This has saved us from living by:

A College
A bus route
A loud jh school
A flight path
A train

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

I spent days, not 45 min, at our area before we bought. This has saved us from living by:

A College
A bus route
A loud jh school
A flight path
A train

Exactly. Who buys a house after visiting a handful of times for 15 minutes? Anyway.