2005 Noise Complaint Log

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATION

Meeting Date:  Item Number:

Subject:

Type of Item: Time for Presentation:  15 minutes

Presented By:

Phil DelVecchio, Community Development Director, x

8318

Suggested Action: Provide Direction to Staff

The purpose of this Communication is to provide the AAB and the City Council with a

year end update on the Airport and how the Airport performed  in 2005.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Noise Abatement Policy (NAP) has been the focus of the last two years airport work

program.  As Council may recall two years ago when the Airport Master plan was updated,

the NAP received more attention from users of the airport and those citizens who live near

the airport than any other issue.

In considering the need to update the NAP, the AAB voted unanimously to raise the traffic

pattern altitude another 150 feet, which causes aircraft coming over the City to be slightly

higher, 1,000 feet above the ground. This move was consistent with FAA safety practices

and is also recommended by the FAA to have the traffic pattern altitude be 1,000 feet above

ground.

The Airport Manager and AAB also requested and incorporated the following into the new

NAP:

 Pilots avoid making touch and go operations before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m.

 Pilots avoid flying over the City and outlying residential areas as much as possible

 That the Traffic Pattern be flown ½ to ¾ of a mile on each side of the runway

 That pilots fly an additional 500 feet higher than the FAA regulations require when flying

over the City of Longmont, resulting in a altitude of 1,500 feet above the ground.

Overall, during the two year monitoring period, and based on representative feedback from

selected residents and neighbors, it has been noted that some of the low flying aircraft

complaints have decreased, especially over the City of Longmont, with noticeable

improvement from those residents living to the west of the airport. However, touch and go

operations continue to generate the majority of complaints, and there have still been some

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early morning touch and go operations. Generally, flying the pattern at ½ to ¾ of a mile on

each side of the runway has been adhered to.

In addition to these added measures, the Airport Manager  again worked one weekend day

from May through September to monitor NAP compliance on the weekends, as the airport

typically has the highest use during this time.

The Airport Manager keeps a data base of all reported or observed deviations of the NAP as

well  as complaints/concerns called into the airport. To date, 200 calls have been received at

the airport, with 134 of those calls coming from one household.  The majority of complaints

came from touch and go operations or one or two aircraft that generated multiple calls. It

should be pointed out that over 65% of the calls received were from one household that lives

very close to the airport.



There were 37 letters sent to pilots deviating from the NAP, 32 were sent to pilots who are

not based out of Vance Brand and 5 have been sent to local pilots. The visiting aircraft,

based on their identification numbers, have been traced to flight schools at Boulder, Tri-

County and Jeffco airports, with Jeffco airport having received the most notification letters.

To help rectify this situation, letters were sent to the local airport operators as well as the

flight schools, at the beginning of May 2005, with several copies of the NAP and a request

for all flight instructors to adhere to Longmont’s NAP when flight training at the Longmont

Airport.

There are still a few local property owners in proximity to the airport that continue to

share concerns with staff regarding the airports’ operation. At least two of those

property owners have centennial farms (in which their family has farmed the same

property for over 100 years and have received special State of Colorado designation).

Continuing in 2005, the Airport Manager again ambarked on a neighborhood outreach

program. This program involved the Airport Manager meeting individually with 15 single

family homes that had voiced concerns about airport operations.

The philosophy behind this program in 2004 was to have the airport be a partner in the

community where both negative and positive impacts can be discussed and whenever

possible mitigated and/or enhanced. Staff felt it was important to continue this program

in 2005 and the program will be again conducted in 2006.



SKYDIVING OPERATIONS

Mile-Hi Skydiving Center (MHSC) has continued to grow in the past two years. This is

partially from the thrill of the sport as it gains popularity as well as the fact that MHSC has lost

two competitors in the region in the past year. The skydiving operations in both Brush and

Canyon City closed this year.

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MHSC completed approximately 35,000 jumps this year, which is up almost 7,000 from the

previous year. Unfortunately, MHSC did have 17 offsite landings, 3 of which landed on a farm

north of the airport, in which the property owners were very upset about. This property owner

feels that when offsite landings occur on his property it is trespassing and a waste of the

property owners time in dealing with these situations.

The Airport Manager is continuing to work with MHSC on specific flight routes that can be

adhered to avoid offsite landings. In addition, Staff is continuing to work with MHSC to avoid

business operations when wind conditions exceed 17 knots/20 mph.

Because of the 17 offsite landings, the City did issue a violation notice and warning letter to

MHSC to prevent unauthorized offsite landings. MHSC did respond to the City’s violation

notice and has vowed to continue working with the City to prevent offsite landings in the

future. Attached is a copy of a map that shows where the offsite landings occurred and also

which property owners have given permission for MHSC to land on in the event of an

emergency.

On another note, MHSC and the City hosted the first ever Swoop Event at the airport where

skydivers skimmed across a pond through gates. While the event was not attended by the

public as hoped, for a first year event, it went well. There were several world records broken

for speed and distance and it is possible that this event may come back again in the future.

MHSC understands that in 2005 it was a demonstration event and would need to request City

permission for future events.

AIRPORT LIGHTING AND CODE ENFORCEMENT ISSUES

As with all developments in the city, the airport is required to comply with the Longmont City

Code. The City Code now requires that all external lighting fixtures either be shielded or

directed at the ground so that no offsite glare exists.

The airport received a complaint this year by a neighbor that the night lights attached to the

hangars were creating light pollution. A subsequent follow up to this complaint by the Airport

Manager and Code Enforcement personnel revealed that the lights on the hangars do not

meet the current code requirements.

To resolve this issue, a meeting was held with airport tenants and Code Enforcement to bring

the tenants up to date on the City’s requirements for outdoor lighting. Several handouts were

distributed as well as information packets on how to correct the lighting situation.

Code Enforcement and the Airport Manager are continuing to work with the airport tenants on

resolving this issue. However, several tenants have expressed concern over the shielding of

lights based on reasons for security. Staff will continue to address this issue in 2006 and

hopefully have the entire airport in compliance, while meeting security needs.

Also, this year it was noted that there have been some compliance issues with the occupancy

of some of the hangars. In cooperation with the Longmont Fire Department and the airport

tenants, comprehensive hangar inspections will be conducted in 2006, starting in January.

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The reason behind these inspections is to make sure that all users of the airport and all

buildings on the airport are safe and capable of supporting the design they were made for.

CONCLUSION

At this time, if the Council has any direction for staff, we will gladly implement it. If not, then

the Airport will move forward in 2006 with the suggestions outlined in this communication.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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