Due to heavy snow, a public hearing on helicopter noise scheduled for East Hampton today has been postponed until March 12.
According to East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell, the “significant snowstorm” led to “treacherous travel” conditions.
The meeting will take place one week from today at LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Road, in Wainscott, at 4:30 p.m.
“The town board has scheduled this hearing in order to listen to and consider comments from the public regarding four proposed laws designed to restrict operations at East Hampton Airport in an effort to mitigate aircraft noise following decades of noise complaints from residents,” Cantwell said.
Teresa McCaskie of Southold Town’s helicopter noise abatement committee spoke last week at Southold Town Supervisor’s State of the Town address and urged residents to attend the meeting. Although plans for a bus were initially mentioned, McCaskie said yesterday residents should plan to travel on their own to the hearing and should attend in force, to let their voices be heard.
Also this week, Congressman Lee Zeldin called on the Federal Aviation Administration to work “immediately” on a solution before the coming summer season.
“Long Island’s East End is one of the nation’s most scenic destinations, and as we rapidly approach another high season for the tourism economy, the people of these affected communities urgently need a set of effective solutions that will mitigate excessive noise from helicopters approaching the region,” Zeldin said.
Zeldin added that although the 2012 FAA rule implementing the “so-called North Shore route for approaching helicopters was successful in mitigating disruptive helicopter noise on other parts of Long Island. . .it has exacerbated the problem on Long Island’s North Fork.”
Currently, pilots are madated fly at or above 2500 feet. But, while pilots are allowed to deviate from that altitude at transition points, Zeldin said he believes pilots “do not have to descend so soon after transitioning the North Fork” and said no actual points of transition are outlined. The FAA, he said, “should investigate why these helicopters are bearing down on communities before it is necessary to do so.”
The congressman called for proper enforcement of the altitude ceiling for aircraft and said if the option was not “successfully pursued,” then “more drastic measures like an all water route around Orient Point will continue to be demanded with good reason by many of my constituents.”
Zeldin asked that the FAA “stand by”the assurances given to his predecessor, Tim Bishop, in 2012; namely, that East Hampton would not be subject to the Airport Noise and Capacity Act after December 31, 2014. Once the town’s assurances expired on that date, the East Hampton town board has been able to refuse any additional FAA funding and is able to vote upon its own restrictions at the airport.
“The citizens of the East Hampton community, through their democratically elected town board, have chosen to implement regulations that maintain and protect their quality of life,” Zeldin said.
The hearing is meant to discuss new restrictions proposed by the East Hampton Town board that could reduce aircraft noise over East End homes.
The proposed new East Hampton local law states that it would ban all helicopters on weekends, implement a mandatory night curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., as well as an extended curfew for noisy aircraft, from 8 p.m. to 9 a.m. and limit operations of noisy aircraft to one trip, or one arrival and one departure, during the summer season.
East Hampton Town Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said she proposed the restrictions after years of analysis and studies, as well as public outreach and an outcry by residents who say helicopter noise has shattered their peaceful East End life.
But now, according to East Hampton’s Quiet Skies Coalition, the final version of the four local laws contains an amendment that would allow seaplanes, which they say would also prove troublesome and noisy.
A copy of the local law and supporting technical information is available for review by clicking here.
