It means the offer of free noise insulation for people living in high noise areas under current noise maps will be expiring.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport has sent letters to 161 homeowners in those heavy noise areas asking them to contact the airport or risk losing that benefit. So far, 29 people have responded and asked for noise insulation, airport officials said.
Officials say only people in the high noise areas who haven’t already taken advantage of noise insulation have been sent letters.
On Sheets Circle, it’s not the sound of the nearby highway, revving car mufflers, lawn mowers or kids playing that irritate neighbors.
It's the airplanes, one after another, taking off from Charlotte Douglas International Airport and flying over their homes.
Michelle Cherry has put up with it for years. First, she lived in a house on Sheets Circle without noise insulation.
"You can't talk, can't use your phone, and can’t hear the television or radio or anything unless you are blasting it until goes past,” Cherry said.
Now, she lives in a house on Sheets Circle with noise insulation. "It's quiet,” she said.
Her storm door is sound insulated. So too are her storm windows. It's because her house is in a high noise area under old airport noise maps.
But now, Charlotte Douglas is re-working its noise maps and waiting for FAA approval. The FAA says that approval could come by the end of the year.
Airport officials say combination of less noisy planes, engines and a third runway at Charlotte Douglas has shrunk areas impacted by loud airplane noise.
But until the FAA approves new noise maps, 161 homeowners are still eligible for airport sound insulation.
In a letter to those homeowners, the airport says "You will no longer be qualified to receive these benefits in the near future unless you contact us soon to exercise you rights."
If new maps put people outside the heavy noise lines they're under now, they won't be eligible for sound insulation.
"I think you should go ahead and do it,” Cherry said. She then repeated it because of the noise from a plane overhead.
Airport officials say while some folks gladly accept the free noise insulation, others don't want government interference with their homes.
Some simply don’t believe it’s free.
The money for noise insulation comes from the FAA. Airports can also choose to spend their own money.
Charlotte Douglas says it has provided sound reducing measures to more than 1,000 homes as part of its noise abatement program.
Homeowners with questions can contact the airport’s Community Programs office.
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