Agenda Item D.1
CPMS DISCUSSION/ACTION
Meeting Date: January 17, 2023
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: Peter Imhof, Planning and Environmental Review Director
CONTACT: Anne Wells, Advance Planning Manager
SUBJECT: Santa Barbara Airport Aircraft Noise Action Plan Letter
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the Mayo r to sign and staff to transmit a letter to the Santa Barbara City Council regarding a request for a Santa Barbara Municipal Airport Aircraft Noise Action Plan.
BACKGROUND:
Airline and busine ss jet traffic at the Santa Barbara Airport ( Airport), owned and operated by the City of Santa Barbara, has recovered from t he COVID -19 pandemic decline. Each type of air traffic at the Airport has noise impacts on Goleta residents.
Early morning, late eve ning, and nighttime aircraft operations are par ticularly disruptive to residents and complaints are escalating with these noise impacts. In additi on, the flight tracks that pilots are following are not consistent with adopted flight path procedures that avoid residential neighborhoods.
City of Gol eta staff h as been meeting and coordinating with Airport staff over t he preceding months to identify specific steps that can be taken to address aircraft noise impacts. On December 7, 2022, the City of Goleta host ed a public workshop to review Airport development projects and to provide information regarding air craft noise. City of Santa Barbara Airport Director Chris Hastert and his staff provided a presentation and responded to comments and questions from the Goleta City Council and the public at the workshop.
During the workshop, detailed and extensive comment s were made by the Council and public regarding aircraft noise con cerns. Airport staff , together with the Council and public, explored a number of possible strategies to address noise concerns. While there was n o commitment to develop an aircraft noise action plan , Airport staff expressed interest in further exploration of the strategies discussed.
1 Meeting Date: January 17, 2023
DISCUSSION:
The purpose of this staff report is to request Council authorization to transmit a letter to the Santa Barbara City Council , signed by the Mayor, regarding follow-up action and measures that would meaningfully address the concerns raised . The letter (Attachment 1) expresses the need for a n Airport Aircraft Noise Action Pl an (Action Plan), detailing specific noise mitigation strategies, some of which were discussed during the workshop.
The letter also requests that an implementation schedule be included in the Action Plan.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
Staff time to prepare t he letter to the Santa Barbara City Council was included in the Advance Planning Work Program for Fiscal Year 2022-23.
ALTERNATIVES:
Council could choose not to authorize the Mayor to sign and sta ff to transmit a letter to the Santa Barbara City Council. If not authorized and transmitted, City staff will continue to collaborate informally with Airport staff on the development of an aircraft noise action plan.
Reviewed By: Legal Review By: Approved By:
___________________ ___________________ _________________ Kristine Schmidt Megan Garibaldi Robert Nisbet
Assistant City Manager City Attorney City Manager
ATTACHMENT:
1. Draft Letter
2 Attachment 1
Draft Letter
3 CITY COUNCIL
Paula Perotte
Mayor
Kyle Richards
Mayor Pro Tempore
Stuart Kasdin
Councilmember
James Kyriaco
Councilmember
District 2
Luz Reyes -Martín
Councilmember
District 1
CITY MANAGER
Robert Nisbet
January 4, 2023 SENT VIA EMAIL
Santa Barbara City Council
City of Santa Barbara, City Hall
735 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
RE: Santa Barbara Airport – Aircraft Noise Action Plan
Dear Mayor Rowse and Councilmembers:
The Goleta City Council wishes to express appreciation for your willingness to work proactively and cooperatively with us to address noise concerns resulting from Santa Barbara Airport (Airport) operations. We also commend Airport staff for their collaborative approach under Airport Director Chis Hastert ’s leadership in working with Goleta staff and residents on these issues. In this regard, we would also like to request certain follow-up actions to the recent City of Goleta Council public workshop at which Airport staff presented information and responded to questions.
As you know, the Airport, which serves as an important commercial air travel hub for the region, is located within the City of Santa Barbara’s jurisdiction adjacent to the City of Goleta. Airport operations, existing and planned, are of great interest and concern to the City of Goleta and its residents. The effects of flight noise, traffic, and other Airport -related impacts are f elt broadly in the City of Goleta, as the City is almost entirely located within the Airport Influence Area. In particular, aircraft noise continues to be a concern for Goleta residents.
On December 7, 2022, the City of Goleta hosted a public workshop regarding Airport projects and aircraft noise. The presentation and response to Goleta City Council and public comment was led by City of Santa Barbara Airport Director Chis Hastert and his staff. During the workshop, detailed and extensive comments were exp ressed by the Council and public regarding aircraft noise concerns. Airport staff, together with the Goleta City Council and public, explored a number of 4 January 17, 2023
possible strategies to address noise concerns. Some of the strategies included:
1) Reinstate the Runway 25 voluntary flight procedure for non -instrument flights over the Ellwood-Devereux Open Space area.
2) Prepare charted visual approach procedures to align aircraft on flight paths that mitigate noise exposure over residential communities. These procedures can also improve communications between pilots and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control tower (ATCT) to further encourage flight path compliance.
3) Incentivize airline compliance with noise abatement flight paths. 4) Encourage all four air lines serving the Airport to use a “proprietary” approach procedure currently used by three of the four airlines. 5) Address noise issues and noise abatement compliance at the time the Airport negotiates with new airlines and new routes by existing airlines. 6) Address business jet operations and chartered aircraft separately from commercial airlines through outreach to Fixed Base Operators ( FBO) supporting these owners and operators . Create noise mitigation procedures specifically for charter aircraft and business and private jets by aligning with National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA) Noise Abatement Program.
7) Analyze and report on departure procedure use, which departure procedures are “quietest” and whether those are being used most often (if not, why). 8) Explore new outreach efforts to pilots to get them information on preferred approach and departure procedures and noise-mitigating measures. 9) Explore the potential benefits and costs of a voluntary aircraft noise curfew, understanding the trade -off that airlines and passengers would likely lose some flight connections.
10) Analyze and report on the fleet mix at the Airport , the number of older, louder aircraft still landing and departing , and hours of operation. Develop strategies to discourage older, louder aircraft use, especially during early morning and late evening hours.
11) Gather and report data on aircraft particulate emissions. 12) Advise on an amendment to Santa Barbara Airport Commission C harter to give the City of Goleta a permanent seat and voice in Airport decisions directly impacting the City. Include informal consideration of City of Goleta nominations for Commission representatives from the C ity of Goleta or County of Santa Barbara.
As a follow -up to the workshop, we are seeking your support and direction to Airport staff to develop an Airport Aircraft Noise Action Plan (Action Plan). The Action Plan would build upon the strategies discussed during the workshop and include an 5 January 17, 2023
implementation schedule. The Action Plan and implementation schedule wo uld help address many noise complaints.
Thank you again for this opportunity to collaboratively address important Airport aircraft noise impacts that directly affect the Goleta community. We are open to ways that our elected officials and staff might furt her assist you and your staff in this regard.
Together, we will find the necessary solutions that will support Airport operations while protecting the Goleta community from excessive and disruptive noise.
We appreciate the City Council’s consideration of this request . Please feel free to contact me a t [email protected] or Peter Imhof, Goleta Planning and Environmental Review Director, at [email protected] or 805 -961-7541, if you would like to discuss our request in more detail.
Sincerely,
Paula Perotte
Mayor
cc: City of Goleta City Council Members
Robert Nisbet, Goleta City Manager
Peter Imhof, Goleta Planning and Environmental Review Department Director 6