Town Weighs Possibility of Closing East Hampton Airport Permanently

EAST HAMPTON, NY —Town officials are weighing the option of permanently closing East Hampton Airport.

At a work session Tuesday, East Hampton Town's airport counsel Bill O'Conner of Cooley LLP gave a presentation, including a timeline that included the airport's closure and plans for privatization. First, the FAA planned to permanently close and deactivate the public-use East Hampton, or HTO, facility.

The FAA planned to close the facility on May 17 and activate the newly privatized East Hampton Airport, JPX, on May 19.

But numerous threats of litigation commenced from companies that wished to keep the facility public, including five state court cases proceeding in Suffolk County Supreme Court; one federal court case proceeding in Eastern District of New York; and two administrative cases proceeding before the FAA, O'Conner said.

The town, he said, is discussing several options related to the litigation and future of JPX. A public engagement session in 2021 made clear that the "community will not tolerate unrestricted operations to and from JPX," O'Conner said.

To that end, "if the community’s desire for a balanced airport will not be imminently achieved, the town has instructed counsel to begin process of permanently closing JPX," the presentation said. "Due to current status, the town has asked counsel to effectuate permanent closure as soon as legally possible."

East Hampton Town continues to coordinate with the FAA, he said.

Also, he added, all of JPX’s capital and operating costs are derived from landing fees, fuel flowage fees, and leases.

The news comes after years of public outcry from across the East End from residents disturbed by noise and other quality of life issues.

When asked about how they felt regarding the potential closure, local elected officials in nearby towns weighed in. Nearby residents on the North Fork and Riverhead have attended meetings for years, crying out about noise and safety concerns they say has shattered their bucolic way of life.

"That's an internal decision between the board members there and their constituents," Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said. "It's not for me to say what they should do. What they decide is their business but if, or when, any decisions negatively impact Southold residents, I shall raise the appropriate level of hell as necessary."

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said he believed the airport should remain open. "The impacts of closure on the East End economy have not been studied," he said.

The initial plan was to have the current East Hampton airport deactivated as of 11:59 p.m. on May 17, and the new airport — East Hampton Town Airport, or JPX — set to open at 9 a.m. on May 19, under East Hampton Town regulation and a prior permission required framework.

All aircraft safety and operational capabilities, including the special use instrument landing procedures for those with permission to use them, were to be in place.

The town board voted unanimously in January to privatize East Hampton airport.

The new, private use airport was to be subject to local control; the town planned to implement a prior permission required framework, meaning advanced permission will be required before an aircraft may use the private airport.

The PPR framework would initially mirror that of a public use airport, but "substantive restrictions" that were to be implemented prior to the 2022 season in conjunction with a data collection period, as per the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.

"This framework provides the town with flexibility to control the use of the air navigation facilities to respond to the community's concerns while also allowing certain aeronautical uses to continue," the town said.

The town board said they believe obtaining flexibility is necessary to ensure quality of life from Wainscott to Montauk.

"We are embarking on an important step in the town's efforts to address aircraft noise, traffic, and other environmental and safety concerns in East Hampton. Operation of a private-use airport will enable us to review and analyze potential changes to airport operations and make adjustments to address long-held community concerns," said Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc has said in past months.

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 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 came 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.