East Hampton Town Board Approves Restrictions For Airport

The East Hampton Town Board voted to approve the three restrictions to the East Hampton Airport to reduce the noise caused by overhead aircrafts at the Town Board meeting on Thursday night.

The laws were inacted with two 5-0 votes and one 4-1 votes from the board, according to Newsday.

“We must recognize that these three local laws are not the end of a process but the beginning of a long-term commitment,” Councilwoman Burke-Gonzalez said according to Newsday.

The restrictions, proposed by Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez back in February, will include a mandatory nighttime curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.; an extended curfew on noisy aircraft from 8 p.m. to 9 a.m.; and a limit on operations by noisy aircraft of one trip (one arrival and one departure) per week during the summer season.

They will begin to take effect before Memorial Day this May, according to Newsday.

The one vote against implementing the restrictions was from Councilman Fred Overton, who ”did not feel comfortable moving forward with it,” according to 27east.

“This restriction will seriously inconvenience airport users and I’m not yet convinced it will produce as many benefits as my colleagues believe,” he told 27east. “I would prefer that the balancing is done in a manner that slightly favors users of the airport.”

The Friends of East Hampton Airport Coalition are also against the restrictions. In a statement from spokesman Loren Riegelhaupt, the group claims they are now ”forced to consider legal action to remedy this unfortunate situation.”

“While not surprising, the decision by the Town of East Hampton to implement these severe and illegal restrictions is certainly disappointing,” Riegelhaupt said. “Rather than working together to find a balanced, reasonable approach, as they promised, the Town has passed restrictions that violate the law and result in dramatic loss in revenue for the airport and Town.”

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