Maywood’s John Brown spoke out in favor of new flight paths to Teterboro Airport that he felt would be beneficial to some residents.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a new flight path to Teterboro Airport’s Runway 19 that would follow more closely to Route 17 where there is already traffic noise, according to an FAA March 9 presentation available online. This was proposed to avoid and reduce noise around Hackensack University Medical Center. Pilots will not begin flying the test route for at least another six weeks.
Towns have become concerned about how the new flight path will impact them with noise pollution, as there are other schools, hospitals and residential areas along the new flight path.
Assemblyman Tim Eustace previously spoke out on behalf of Rochelle Park and Paramus, that these municipalities should have a say in the decision affecting their towns.
"Residents of Paramus and Rochelle Park will be inundated with aircraft noise pollution after no public hearing was held to secure their input," said Eustace in late March.
According to northjersey.com, the new flight path is on a six-month trial.
Brown stated at an April 12 council meeting that the new flight path would actually be beneficial to some residents of Maywood that have already been dealing with Teterboro Airport noise pollution from the former approach.
"I’ve come before you today to solicit your support of the FAA’s project which is moving the approach to Runway 19 at Teterboro Airport," he said. "All I’ve seen so far in the press is mayors and other local politicians getting on the side of ‘not in our neighborhood.’ "
Brown told the mayor and council that many people in Maywood have been dealing with this noise issue for years.
"I, for one, if you draw a straight line down Runway 19, it intersects my house. I literally look up and see planes. The mayor has the same problem," said Brown.
Brown said that he heard local politicians complaining how the new approach would not be good for their neighborhoods.
"Well, frankly, you have to look at the flight path also, and I think you need to educate some of these other people," he said. "We’re starting in Mahwah at 3,000 feet. When it gets to Hackensack High School, it’s about 500 feet if that. So, there’s quite a bit of difference in the height of the planes and, consequently, the noise," said Brown.
Brown said that this flight path would only be used in times of good visibility.
The former flight path would still be used in foggy weather.
"If it’s overcast, where it’s soupy outside, and those planes not only come low but those pilots are probably looking for a runway and they’re probably even lower. They’re passing over Maywood at a 1,000 feet, maybe even 800 feet," he said.
Brown said he was disturbed at seeing so many people "piling on the other side without thinking."
"Frankly, the other part of Maywood, the west part of Maywood, there’ll be residential areas where those people will hear sounds once in a while. Most of the sound is going over a commercial area," he explained. "It’s coming down Route 17. It’s coming down our commercial or industrial area, so, I ask you, when certain politicians come here and ask for your support, I think it’s time you push back on them and say, ‘Hey, this is something that’s good for Maywood.’ "
Mayor Adrian Febre told Brown that he shared his sentiments.
"Some of those politicians actually represent Maywood, and I hope they would, at the very least, stay neutral on it or see our side of it," said the mayor.
He described his own experience at his home with noise from planes.
"It is a nightmare to be in your back yard – nightmare might be too strong a word – but if you’re enjoying your back yard and speaking, you have to wait until the plane passes over before you can even resume speaking. You have to stop. So, ‘not in my back yard’ maybe can be shared a little bit," Febre said.
Councilman Frank Morrone also said a few words on the topic.
"The other thing they don’t think about is, they keep bringing up the schools, but the kids are only out of the building for lunch and pretty much they’re in the building the whole time; whereas, neighborhood people are trying to enjoy the privacy of their back yards and you can’t go 30 seconds to a minute without planes flying over your house," said Morrone.
Original article can be found here: http://www.northjersey.com
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