If the San Jose ordinance is allowed to stand, it opens the door to banning other types of aircraft like Bonanzas and Cessna 210s for no legitimate reason. Noise ordinances must be targeted at specific noise levels, not arbitrary selections of aircraft. Since aircraft weight has no direct relationship to aircraft noise, the curfew was unjustly discriminatory against a class of aviation users.
Federal law prohibits that.
AOPA had asked FAA to review the legality of the ordinance back in September 1999. The agency is still considering the issue. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, based outside Washington, D.C., represents more than 365,000 pilots who own or fly three-quarters of the nation's 206,000 general aviation aircraft.