Friday, September 09, 2011

FAA Approves East Hampton Town's Airport Layout Plan. East Hampton Airport (KHTO), New York.


Photo Credit: Doug Kuntz


The Federal Aviation Administration has accepted East Hampton Town’s Airport Layout Plan, paving the way for the possible installation of a seasonal control tower and a 10-mile zone of federal control around East Hampton Airport, town officials said on Friday.

The FAA sent a letter of approval to Supervisor Bill Wilkinson on Tuesday, according to a press release from Mr. Wilkinson and Councilman Dominick Stanzione, the Town Board’s liaison to the airport. The last layout plan was approved in 1989, they said.

“This fulfills a campaign promise—to get our airport into a more safe and secure position within professional aviation and just as important, to be a better neighbor,” Mr. Wilkinson said in the release. “Now we can move on a seasonal control tower.”

The layout plan depicts the airport in its current form, according to Mr. Stanzione, but is necessary for the town to install the temporary tower, put 10 miles of airspace around the airport under “direct FAA supervision,” and receive certain federal grants, according to the officials.

“For the first time, East Hampton can have effective control of our airspace,” Mr. Wilkinson said. The town would need additional FAA approval to install the tower and create the controlled airspace.

The Town Board approved the layout plan and a separate Airport Master Plan last year. In February, at Mr. Stanzione’s request, the Town Board untethered the layout plan from the master plan, and submitted them separately to the FAA for review.

Six residents who live near the airport, which is located in Wainscott, sued East Hampton Town last year, claiming it did not adequately address the issue of airport noise in its environmental analysis of the master plan update. The lawsuit has not been resolved.

In the press release, Mr. Wilkinson hailed the layout plan’s approval as a step toward better noise mitigation.

“While the FAA approval of our ALP is a milestone achievement, it is part of a more comprehensive approach to managing the airport as a business and community asset, and to creatively and practically mitigating impacts of aviation activity, efforts that Councilman Stanzione has diligently pursued,” he said.

The FAA has not yet issued a ruling on the master plan.


Supervisor Bill Wilkinson announced a federal stamp of approval has been given for the town-owned airport that makes way for a seasonal control tower.

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved an Airport Layout Plan for East Hampton Airport in Wainscott.

In a Sept. 6 letter, the FAA’s New York Airports District Office reported the recently-submitted town plan is “acceptable.”

“This fulfills a campaign promise—to get our airport into a more safe and secure position within professional aviation and just as important, to be a better neighbor,” Wilkinson said in a statement on Friday. “Now we can move on a seasonal control tower.”

Councilman Dominick Stanzione, the liaison to the airport, said the approval enables the town to obtain FAA’s authorization for such temporary seasonal control tower and designation of 10-miles of airspace around the airport under FAA supervision.

“For the first-time, East Hampton can have effective control of our airspace,” Wilkinson said.

He said the airport hasn't had an approved layout plan since 1989.

“This is a historical moment in modern town history,” said Wilkinson.

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