BURLINGTON — Two members of the South Burlington City Council pressed their Burlington counterparts to give them a greater role in deciding how Burlington International Airport mitigates the impact of noise on nearby homes.
South Burlington Councilors Meaghan Emery and Tim Barritt attended a presentation by airport Aviation Director Gene Richards at Monday’s council meeting in Burlington.
During the public comment period, the two said the longstanding practice of buying homes affected by noise using Federal Aviation Administration grant money has eroded the affordable housing stock in their city.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger has said since first being elected in 2012 that he would end the home buyout program. He said Monday that a last round of home buyouts is necessary before the FAA will allow consideration of other options.
South Burlington officials say they were not informed when the Burlington City Council accepted a $15 million FAA grant to buy 50 more homes in South Burlington last year.
The airport is owned and operated by Burlington, but it’s located in South Burlington. The arrangement can cause friction between the two municipalities, which recently settled litigation over the airport’s tax payments to South Burlington.
As Burlington and airport officials prepare a new “noise compatibility” program — a planning document that is the basis for FAA grants — Emery asked the Burlington City Council for “a place at the table” so members could participate in the decision-making process.
Richards said he’s answered an “abnormal amount of questions” from South Burlington officials. He noted that South Burlington City Councilor Pat Nowak is a member of the Airport Commission, giving the city a voice in the process.
Further complicating the situation is that new noise maps, which will serve as the basis for the current round of noise mitigation planning, do not take into account the F-35 fighter jets expected to arrive at the Vermont Air National Guard base in 2019.
Richards said theoretically the airport could have new sound maps before the F-35 arrives, but that would depend on the Air Force providing information that it hasn’t to this point. Even with that information, the next round of FAA grants will be based on the current maps.
Emery asked Burlington councilors to imagine their roles were reversed, and South Burlington owned 800 acres on the edge of downtown Burlington. Would they want a greater role, she asked, when it came to decisions on that property?
Counting the 50 homes slated for buyouts in this latest round, South Burlington will have lost 200 affordable homes since 2010 that were within walking distance of its city center, Emery said.
An additional 960 homes in South Burlington that are affected by noise could be eligible for FAA mitigation measures. They are homes with yards that can accommodate families at a cost that’s in the “sweet spot” for first-time homebuyers at between $200,000 and $275,000, said Barritt.
“I don’t know of any other housing going up in South Burlington that’s in that price range today,” Barritt said. Most new housing in the city is being built in condo or apartment buildings that don’t offer families the same space, because “that’s what the price of land commands from developers,” Barritt added.
Barritt said it’s South Burlington’s intention to keep the 960 homes that are affected by noise and not see them sold and demolished.
Burlington International Airport received an additional $450,000 from the FAA to explore alternatives to home buyouts as it develops a revised noise program over the next 12 to 18 months.
Among the options being explored is better home insulation, but Emery said it’s not clear to her that’s what residents want.
Emery said an FAA official explained at a recent community meeting that airports typically impose an aviation easement in order for homes to be eligible for insulation upgrades, which would prevent residents from taking future legal action based on noise. Richards said the easements, though common, are not required.
Jimmy Leas, who lost a bid for South Burlington’s City Council, said insulation doesn’t work when doors or windows are open.
Barritt urged Burlington officials to consider berms or sound containment walls as possible alternatives when writing the new noise compatibility program, but FAA and airport officials have said those measures are unlikely to be effective.
Burlington councilors said they appreciate their neighboring councilors’ concerns, but took no action Monday. City Councilor David Hartnett, D/R-North District, said Burlington understands what it’s like to lose a neighborhood, as it did to urban renewal many decades ago.
“We want to be good landlords and good stewards,” he said.
Hartnett and other councilors emphasized the need for airport decisions to reflect the will of residents who live close by and urged Richards to ensure their voices are heard.
Richards pledged to do so “aggressively” throughout the planning process. However, he suggested that “a small group of people are speaking for a large number” of South Burlington residents affected by noise.
At the recent community meeting with the FAA, Richards said only 20 people there were residents affected by noise and that the crowd was otherwise comprised of media and “politicians.”
Emery, sitting in the audience, rolled her eyes at that statement. News reports said nearly 70 people were at the event.
