Reschedule, Divert, Shh

A vote is expected tonight on three measures restricting access to the East Hampton Airport, the first local regulations designed to reduce regional disturbance from flights and to target “noisy” aircraft, particularly helicopters.

The laws, if approved, would establish a year-round curfew, closing down the airport entirely between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. daily. From May through September, aircraft designated as noisy would be subject to additional regulations, including a curfew from 8 p.m. to 9 a.m. and a limit of two “operations” (takeoff or landing) per week.

The most far-reaching proposal, an outright ban on helicopters at the town airport on weekends during the summer season, has been dropped.

In preparation for the vote, the town board on Tuesday reviewed an environmental assessment of the laws prepared by Marguerite Wolffsohn, the town planning director. A goal of the town comprehensive plan, Ms. Wolffsohn said, is to “ ‘take forceful measures to protect and restore the environment. . . .’ and to “reduce the impacts of human-produced noise.”

In addition, she said, the town’s airport master plan, adopted in 2010, states that “control of noise and adverse environmental impacts at the airport is consistent with current town goals for improved quality of life and land and water conservation” and that environmental protection is “essential for improving the town’s seasonal and year-round economy.”

The master plan talks about achieving the goals through “reasonable, non-arbitrary and nondiscriminatory [airport] management practices,” including limiting the maximum size of aircraft to be accommodated, regulating excessive peak demand during the summer season, and adjusting use patterns, “such as for helicopter access to minimize community disturbances.”

The Planning Department documents reiterate the findings of the aircraft noise studies conducted on behalf of the town, noting that noise from helicopters has accounted for a majority of noise-related complaints, and that sound from helicopters has characteristics that make it particularly disturbing.

“The laws are expected to reduce the disturbance to residents, visitors, and wildlife caused by noisy aircraft and to help restore our acoustical environment in accordance with the goals of our Comprehensive Plan,” Ms. Wolffsohn wrote in her report.

While the town has decided not to pursue an outright ban on helicopter landings and takeoffs on summer weekends, the three remaining restrictions could affect neighboring communities and their airports — an impact that was examined by a consultant, Peter Stumpp, as part of a traffic-diversion study, with results presented this week.

Concern that a helicopter ban in East Hampton would simply create new problems at neighboring airstrips — Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, the Southampton helipad, and the Montauk Airport — led to the omission of that provision, and to the study. Ms. Wolffsohn said in her report that decisions by pilots and passengers about what other airports to use if precluded from coming to East Hampton by a curfew or by the weekly limit on noisy aircraft, would be based on numerous variables such as final destination, fuel requirements and availability, weather, and airport amenities and hours. Besides going elsewhere, she said, passengers and pilots could change the time of their flights to comply with restrictions, use quieter aircraft, switch from helicopters to fixed-wing aircraft, come to East Hampton by other means of transportation, or simply make fewer trips here.

The year-round 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew on all aircraft is expected, according to the airport use data reviewed by Mr. Stumpp, to cause 457 flights to be rescheduled and 125 others, including 43 involving helicopters, to be diverted to other airports.

As the Southampton Heliport has the same curfew, the planes could go only to Montauk or Gabreski. However, the report notes, there is a voluntary curfew in effect at Gabreski during the same overnight hours, and the Montauk airport is not staffed at night, leaving pilots unable to get information on conditions, etc.

The extended curfew for noisy aircraft would affect 1,824 operations, including 1,013 helicopter flights, Mr. Stumpp concluded.

Morning and evening flights within an hour of the new curfew cutoffs would be expected to reschedule, he said, and the operators of other flights are expected to choose equally among the options: rescheduling, diverting, or using quieter aircraft.

Helicopter landings at East Hampton Airport have gone from a total of 2,893 in 2006 to 4,198 last year. At the Montauk Airport, records that begin in 2010 show 168 landings by helicopters that year and 385 last year. In Southampton, where the tally started in 2008, there were 658 landings there that year; that number increased to 890 last year. Gabreski Airport had 890 landings in 2006, going to a high of 1,276 in 2007 and a low of 450 last year.

From May through September, helicopter operations accounted for 76.4 percent of the “noisy aircraft” operations at East Hampton Airport.

Instituting the twice-a-week maximum on operations at East Hampton by noisy aircraft along with the curfews would affect 5,822 flights, Mr. Stumpp calculated. The majority — between 2,538 and 3,216 — would respond by going elsewhere, he estimated. Between 1,504 and 2,182 flights would be made using quieter aircraft instead, he said in his report, and 1,102 would be rescheduled.

During the summer season, the limit on noisy aircraft would mean an average of 6.4 to 8.5 helicopter arrivals would be diverted from East Hampton to another airport each day. But on a peak day, according to past records, that could mean that between 18 and approximately 24 helicopters could be diverted from East Hampton Airport.

The calculus shows that less than one potential arrival at East Hampton by a noisy fixed-wing aircraft would be diverted each day.

Mr. Stumpp concludes that the diversion of flights from East Hampton to other airports would not result in a substantive increase in road traffic, nor significant noise impacts to people living under those airports’ flight paths. The approaches to the Montauk Airport and Southampton Heliport are over water, he says, and Gabreski Airport encompasses 1,451 acres.

In addition to a vote tonight on the new restrictions, the board is expected to schedule a hearing on May 7 on the penalties proposed for those who don’t follow them: a fine of up to $1,000 for the first violation by an individual aircraft, rising to $4,000 for a second violation, $10,000 for a third, and, for a fourth violation, banishment from the airport for a period of up to two years. 

The addition to the town code will also codify the board’s intention to evaluate the effectiveness of the airport use restrictions after Sept. 30, and present conclusions to the public. The studies will include an analysis of the diversion of traffic to other airports, the effect of the regulations on noise complaints, the effect on aircraft operators, and the financial impact of the new regulations.