Article contents from The Citizen included for posterity. This was the second meeting I was able to attend, the next round will be on December 4th. Essentially the fight is still on, and valid, but with the FAA’s timetables we’re unlikely to experience a final resolution until 2009 or 2010.

Neighborhood denied FAA funds to insulate airport-area homes

BY BECKY IANNOTTA

Citizen Staff

Linda Avenue residents want to know why all neighborhoods north and west of Key West International Airport except theirs have been retrofitted with new windows, doors and insulation to keep jet noise out of their homes.

They learned Tuesday they will have to wait for a new computer model of airplane noise to see if they, too, can receive the $70,000 per home upgrades.

The soundproofing is part of a $20 million project that has retrofitted 207 homes in Key West. The next phase, 72 homes on Flagler Avenue and Riviera Drive, is expected to begin late next year.

Federal Aviation and Administration grants have paid for 95 percent of the project, while the other 5 percent has come from the $4.50 per passenger fee charged for flights to Key West.

Fifteen Linda Avenue residents attended the county’s airport Ad Hoc Committee meeting Tuesday seeking assurance that their homes will receive the same upgrades as those of their neighbors.

“How about a look at the map? How about the fact that we’re surrounded by neighborhoods in the program?” asked Linda Avenue resident Ricky Jackson. “The word that comes to mind is asinine.”

Randy Sterling, another Linda Avenue resident, noted the proximity of his home to those that received soundproofing.

“Basically, we’re within 12 feet of it if my neighbor is in [the program] and we’re not,” he said. “It’s just frustrating to know that the height of the planes is lower going over our neighborhood than any other neighborhood.”

A model of airport noise created in 1999 put Linda Avenue just outside a noise contour that estimates the average noise level for surrounding neighborhoods at 65 decibels. In fall 2000, the FAA approved a seven-year plan for soundproofing 319 homes near the airport as part of the federal agency’s Noise Insulation Program. But in August 2005, an FAA spokeswoman told The Citizen that noise contours had shrunk due to the introduction of quieter regional jets at the airport.

Appeals to the FAA to reconsider and include 42 Linda Avenue and adjacent Flagler Avenue homes prompted the agency to direct the county to update its noise contours, and within the guidelines, explore whether the area is affected by aircraft noise.

“They’ve given us $100,000 to say go out there and see what you can do to make this happen,” said county airports Director Peter Horton.

It could take between six months to a year to complete the new computer model for airplane noise, according to Deborah Murphy Lagos, senior project manager for the county’s air transportation contractor, URS Corp.

Corporate jet pilot Sonny Knowles said flying over Linda Avenue while approaching the runway is the most efficient way to land at Key West International. Other factors, such as direction from the tower at Naval Air Station Key West also affect landing patterns, he said.

“You can’t dictate an aircraft to come in a certain way because there’s too many variables,” Knowles said.

Flight tracks shifted somewhat in 2003, after Old Town resident and then-committee member John Padget suggested planes approach the airport over Garrison Bight instead of Old Town. Airport officials passed the suggestion on to pilots, Horton said.

“I can tell you we haven’t received any complaints from Old Town since 2003, but now we get complaints from other streets like Fourth and Harris,” he said.

County Commissioner Dixie Spehar, chairwoman of the airport ad hoc committee, noted noise has long been an issue.

“We have tried all different directions,” she said. “There’s no good direction for anyone.”

Horton encouraged Linda Avenue residents to continue pressing for their homes to receive the soundproofing.

“I personally believe you will prevail,” he said. “I can’t guarantee it, but I believe you will prevail.”

riannotta@keysnews.com