Federal Court Issues Order to Extend Deadline on Town Airport Laws

The federal court issued an order on Wednesday extending the deadline to rule on a motion to prevent enforcing the three local laws adopted by the Town of East Hampton to address the problem of excessive airport noise.

The underlying motion, which was filed by certain airport users who oppose the new local laws, was filed as a motion for a temporary restraining order.

Judge Joanna Seybert heard arguments on May 18 and initially announced that she would reach a decision by June 8 and the Town agreed to postpone enforcement of the laws until she made her decision.

In Wednesday’s order, Judge Seybert extended the deadline for issuing her decision by three weeks to June 26, because of the complexity of the issues involved.

“The Town Board remains confident that it will prevail in the litigation, however, out of respect for the judicial process, the Town has agreed to continue to not enforce the local laws pending the Court’s decision,” the Town wrote in a press release.

The lawsuit was filed in April by the Friends of East Hampton Airport coalition after the Town Board voted to approve the three restrictions proposed by Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.

The restrictions included 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.

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