East Hampton Discusses Vote To 'Deactivate," Privatize Airport

EAST HAMPTON, NY — The town board, at its work session Monday, discussed action to "deactivate" East Hampton Airport, closing the facility for a short period of time until March — when it will reopen as a new, publicly owned, private use facility, town officials said.

The board is expected to vote on the resolution to deactivate the airport at its regular town board meeting on Thursday.

When it reopens, the airport will operate under a "prior permission required" framework that will give the town flexibility to enact use restrictions, town officials said.

The news of privatization sparked questions from elected officials and residents, with some saying they believed the airport should be closed permanently.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and the board said the town retains right to close the new airport completely if those limits don’t provide community relief.

The board said it will take "full advantage of the opportunity to make significant changes at the East Hampton Airport" in order to rein in use of the airport by an increasing number of helicopters, jets, and other aircraft that have had East End communities crying out for change for years, expressing concerns about noise, safety, and environmental issues.

According to the resolution slated to be offered at Thursday’s town board meeting, the process of engaging public input has suggested that “a balance can be struck between aviation stakeholders and the community such that implementing restrictions or other limitations on operations can address much of the community’s concern without foreclosing the ability of certain operators to continue operating out of the new [private use] airport.”

The resolution expected on Thursday declares the closure of the East Hampton Airport and opening of the new private use airport to pose no significant adverse environmental impact under SEQRA. However, the long-term operational changes and restrictions in the PPR regulations that will be considered will be subject to State Environmental Quality Review Act review with opportunity for public input before becoming final, the town said.

Explaining the PPR framework, town officials said the measure will allow for the implementation and enforcement of use restrictions to limit airport traffic and noise, while also addressing safety, environmental, and other concerns.

The parameters of the PPR, program would be developed, presented to the public for discussion and comment, and set in place before the start of the summer season in May, officials said.

Limits can include defining aircraft operations for which permission will not be granted and authorizing airport use rights for certain users, such as establishing restrictions based on time of day, type of aircraft, noise level, type of operation — for example, commercial or private — and on environmental factors, such as the use of leaded aviation fuel, or electric aircraft, the town said.

After consideration of five possible legal courses of action, identified through analysis and in discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration — which outlined several of the options in a November 2020, letter to the town — the town board, after consultation with aviation attorney, Cooley LLC, and the community has recommended the closure of the East Hampton Airport and opening of a new private use airport.

Closing the airport and opening a new private facility will provide the town with “maximum flexibility,” according to the attorneys, who made a presentation at a town board work session Monday,, and as noted by the Federal Aviation Administration in the November 2020 letter, the process will extinguish legal obligations that could restrict future airport regulation.

“Obtaining maximum local control will provide the town with flexibility to implement and adjust restrictions consistent with the community’s evolving needs,” they said in their recommendation. Under the PPR system, prior permission from the town would be needed in order that an airport user could 'have full operational use of a runway, taxiway, apron, or airport facility/service,'” according to an FAA definition.

The town could grant, withdraw, or revise permissions as needed, and would retain the ability to permanently close the new airport if the PPR restrictions do not meet community needs, town officials said.

The impact of the operational restrictions would be tracked and assessed during the upcoming season as part of an environmental impact statement under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.

The time between the closure of the East Hampton Airport and opening of a new private use facility could be designed for minimum disruption, the Cooley attorneys said.

According to a recommended timeline, following the submission of required notice to the FAA the airport closure would be scheduled for Feb. 28, with the new, private-use airport slated to open on March 4. This timing was discussed with FAA officials as recently as January 6, at which time it was confirmed that the FAA does not have a “defined period of closure” that would apply to opening of the new private use airport, officials said.

Other options regarding the airport’s future that were examined but not recommended included negotiating an agreement with aircraft operators for mandatory restrictions, pursuant to the FAA's “Part 161” procedure; permanent closure; transitioning to a private airport without a closure and reopening, and maintaining the status quo.

For years, public has sounded a rallying cry, saying that allowing the airport to continue operating as it has been is unacceptable, and that traffic volume, noise, environmental, and safety concerns must be addressed, officials said.

East Hampton Town gained the ability to adopt airport use restrictions, transition to a private airport, or even to close the airport altogether, with the Sept. 25, 2021, expiration of grant assurances, or agreements with the FAA. However, to ensure all the grant assurances were extinguished, the airport must close for a period of time.

A previous attempt by the town prior to the expiration of the grant assurances, to institute a curfew and other use restrictions, was overturned by the court in 2017.

The decision to close the East Hampton Airport and open the new private use airport as a publicly owned private facility comes at the end of a year-long public engagement process, with envisioning sessions designed to gather and disseminate information to the public; share essential facts related to conditions at the airport; facilitate discussion and consensus building on future plans for the airport, and to solicit and compile public input and alternatives for board consideration and review, the board said.

In 2021 the town board also held eight board work sessions with professional consultants on the airport; conducted four public listening workshops, which drew more than 300 participants; held one-on-one meetings with stakeholders and interest groups, and, during the 2021 summer season, conducted an airport user survey.

The board also commissioned and reviewed a number of in-depth studies and analyses on noise and operations, an economic study, an environmental study, and a zoning and planning review, by professional consultants.