New Check Of Noise Levels Around Westchester Airport

CHAPPAQUA, NY — A Chappaqua homeowner hosted a press conference Wednesday as County Executive George Latimer announced a new project to analyze noise data and flight patterns in and out of Westchester County Airport. The initiative received approval from John Ravitz, executive vice president of The Business Council of Westchester and founder of the BCW Coalition for Westchester Airport.

As planes flew overhead, Latimer, County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz and the homeowner, Jeff Kuduk, talked about the data necessary to make substantive changes.

"For a long period of time, the County did not have this monitoring in effect, so the data that we had was not helpful," Latimer said. "This is the beginning of a number of efforts that will allow us to collect good, useful data.”

Latimer displayed an example of the portable noise monitoring devices that have been placed in key locations where the County is receiving an increasing number of complaints.

One is at the home of the press conference host.

“About 9 months ago, in an evening when it was warm and I had the windows open, I just started to notice how many planes were going overhead at 10:30-11:30 at night," Kuduk said. He left a voice message and heard back the next day and volunteered, he said, pausing in the middle as a plane went over.

In all the county has seven portable noise monitors placed on residents’ property in Purchase, two in Pleasantville, Scarsdale, White Plains and two in Chappaqua. These are in addition to the 22 fixed noise monitors the county has also placed.

The county has signed a contract with Harris, Miller, Miller & Hanson. The project will allow the County to better collect hard empirical data on noise and flight patterns. Expanded hard data, along with anecdotal evidence, will assist the County in their efforts to further address community noise concerns.

This new program will allow the County to add expanded hard data numbers to anecdotal evidence of noise.

By looking at the historic data, including flight patterns and type of aircraft, the County then can determine changes over time which can explain why certain communities are experiencing noise issues now when they have not in the past. Notable changes may include aircraft size, flying altitude, or flying different approach patterns. While the County does not have the ability to change flight patterns, this expanded data will serve as a valuable tool when advocating to the FAA on behalf of County residents.

County officials took these actions in response to concerns heard at a series of public hearings regarding the airport.

"Where we stand today is not right next door to the airport," Latimer said. "So when people say, 'well you bought a home right next to the airport what did you expect'...but the flight paths that are currently in effect have a continual set of airplanes coming over a number of communities that are not particularly close to the airport."

In addition, he said, flight patterns have changed in the past five years.

John Ravitz, executive vice president of The Business Council of Westchester and founder of the BCW Coalition for Westchester Airport, issued a statement in response:

The Coalition for Westchester Airport encourages the use of portable noise monitoring units and applauds County Executive Latimer for this initiative. We hope the residents who have been most vocal in their noise complaints, in some cases filing literally thousands of reports, also will agree to have monitors placed at their properties. Portable noise monitoring will help to provide actual data that can be tracked and analyzed, taking the issue of noise out of the realm of anecdotal evidence and making it something we can more objectively quantify and understand. The airport’s neighbors need to be respected, and the Coalition favors reasonable approaches to mitigating noise issues. The Coalition encourages enhancements at the airport designed to protect the traveling community, the business community and the neighboring community.