East Hampton's Plan To Privatize Airport Sparks Questions

EAST HAMPTON, NY — After years of public outcry over helicopter noise and public safety concerns, East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said in his recent state of the town address that the town would be moving to privatize the airport.

The news, however, was met with some questions by residents and elected officials.

After Federal Aviation Administration assurance expired in September, Van Scoyoc said the town is "finally able to address the longstanding issues of aircraft noise, traffic volume, and environmental impacts of aircraft at our airport. Our goal is to gain meaningful relief for the ever-growing multitude of people whose quality of life is negatively affected by aircraft noise."

To that end, the town conducted a series of public workshops and studies in 2021 to engage and inform both the public and the board to better understand the benefits and detriments created by the airport, Van Scoyoc said.

"With the knowledge gained, we feel the best approach is to transition to a private use airport, which will allow us to put in place restrictions that are specifically targeted to improve residents’ quality of life and improve the environment by reducing emissions," the supervisor said.

He added that town officials have been meeting regularly with FAA officials to better understand the mechanics of the transition.

The intent, he said, is to move to a "prior permission required," or PPR model for the airport, which will give the town the most flexibility in crafting restrictions that balance the needs of the entire community.

"We expect to begin the transition this winter, so that these new restrictions will be in place for the upcoming summer season," Van Scoyoc said.

Some questioned the news.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman wrote letters to Van Scoyoc and the Southampton airport advisory committee. Schneiderman said, according to his understanding, the town would need to shutter the airport temporarily to "extinguish" remaining FAA assurances that were more perpetual in nature.

His concerns, Schneiderman said, involved what would happen if the airport were closed for any length of time, something that might happen due to potential prolonged litigation. He questioned the impacts of such a closure, which he said have not been properly assessed and which could directly impact residents of Southampton and Westhampton in terms of noise and other issues. Those impacts must be studied before any temporary closure or decommissioning commences, Schneiderman said.

"Both towns should work together to persuade the FAA to allow East Hampton to enact a set of common-sense restrictions to relieve the suffering of our citizens, without the risks associated with a temporary closure/decommissioning," he wrote.

Van Scoyoc did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schneiderman's comments.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell also spoke out on the possible privatization: "East Hampton Town has put a considerable amount of resources into being a good neighbor to the other East End towns," he said. "A while back it had adopted fair, common sense regulations that would have met the needs of the pilots and of residents — both within and outside of East Hampton Town."

Unfortunately, some key provisions of that legislation were overturned in court when the pilots challenged them, Russell said.

"I think the East Hampton supervisor is committed to resolving these issues once and for all. Now it's time to test the rhetoric of the East Hampton Community Alliance. They say they are committed to working with the town. I'll take them at their word and hope they mean it this time."

The EHCA did not immediately return a request for comment.

Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said Riverhead Town has "endured a great amount of low flying planes and helicopters, causing excessive noise and disturbing our community. Once pilots realized if they flew over Riverhead, they could complete their flight in a much shorter time span and save on fuel, pilots decided to fly over directly over Riverhead and avoided the designated FAA flight patterns designed to avoid flying directly over residential communities," she said.

Those actions were detrimental to the community for years, she said. "If the airport is privatized, we hope, and are on guard, that these subversive past practices do not return. If they do, I will most certainly become and advocate for our community," Aguiar said.

Teresa McCaskie of Southold Town's airport noise steering committee reflected on the privatization plans. "At this point and time, it’s a wait and see type of situation regarding the airport. The ideal solution is closure simply because this airport is situated on the most pristine areas of the aquifer which supplies clean drinking water to thousands of residents."

She added that if proposed to be built today, "this airport would never be built."

She said the great hope is significant, overall reduction of aircraft flying to and from the facility.

The bottom line, McCaskie said, is that East Hampton Town needs to prioritize the environment first, "since they claimed to be a 'climate smart community.'"

Adam Irving, of the Southold airport noise steering committee, agreed that, in his opinion, closure is the only true solution.

The airport, he said, "is almost 600 acres which belongs to the people of East Hampton but is utilized by less than 1 percent. The wealthiest 1 percent.There are far better uses which would be environmentally sustainable and for the benefit of the remaining 99 percent."

He added that, clearly, the East Hampton town board is trying to meet in the middle.

"I don't think it will work," Irving said. "A ban on commercial seaplane jet and helicopter operations would be a logical start. We shall see. The volume of operations at KHTO is out of control and the majority of the flight paths still predominantly impact residents outside East Hampton. East Hampton cannot reap the benefits while foisting the negatives on other townships. Southold Town cannot be used as a doormat to East Hampton, as has been the case historically."

For years, residents and elected officials alike on the North Fork and in Riverhead, as well as on the South Fork, have demanded answers from the FAA on helicopter noise that they said disrupts residents' quality of life and also pose danger.