Hearing Held on Curbing East End Flights

More than 350 people packed a public hearing held at a Wainscott television studio on Thursday to debate proposed legislation that would drastically reduce air traffic in and out of East Hampton Airport.

Seventy people - including community groups, business owners and elected officials - took to the podium during the four-hour meeting.

According to a report in The Suffolk Times:

The speakers were equally divided between those in favor of the legislation to stop excessive noise from the aircraft, especially helicopters buzzing over their communities, and those opposed because it would kill local businesses and put people out of work.

With a spike in air traffic at the airport — from January to September 2014 there were 22,350 take offs and landings — and a marked increase of recorded complaints from residents, the East Hampton board’s proposed legislation would ban all helicopters on weekends during the summer, impose mandatory curfews on all flights and extend curfews and limit operations for what the board has determined to be “noisy” aircraft.

Loren Riegelhaupt, spokesman for the Friends of East Hampton Airport coalition, issued the following statement in response to the hearing:

“The East Hampton airport is a core element to the economic vitality of the region and these bans will put its future at risk. By pushing forward with these reckless proposals without understanding the basic economic facts, the Town is flying blind and playing with people’s livelihoods.

“The concerns raised today do not just come from pilots, residents and aviation experts, they also come from the former East Hampton Town Supervisor, NYU economics Professor Mitchell Moss, dozens of local small business owners and residents and even from members of the East Hampton finance committee who raised very serious concerns about what these bans will mean to the airport and the town.

“We again strongly urge the East Hampton Town Board to pull back from the precipice and return to the negotiation table to find a solution that alleviates the noise concerns and keeps East Hampton a vital and thriving destination.”

The discussion has been ongoing on the North Fork as well, as Rep. Lee Zeldin, vice chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, held a conference with local elected officials and community groups at Southold Town Hall last Sunday.

The East Hampton Town Board left the public comment period open until March 20.

Read the full story on The Suffolk Times: http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2015/03/56885/benefits-of-helicopter-regs-debated-at-packed-east-hampton-hearing/