Greenwich Post
Airspace alliance to meet Monday in Greenwich

Apr 10, 2008

The Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning will host a public meeting Monday, April 14, at Greenwich Town Hall to address concerns and answer public questions regarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed flight plan aimed to ease air traffic congestion in the metropolitan New York area and its implications for Fairfield County. The event will also serve as an opportunity to review the status of lawsuits pending against the FAA.

The open forum will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Committees of the Connecticut General Assembly have already approved the resolution calling on the FAA “to reconsider this ill-advised, flawed and poorly researched scheme and to hold additional hearings seeking the input of elected officials and concerned citizens.” Final approval is now up to the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Area towns took their cry for help in fighting the FAA’s proposed flight path redesign to Hartford last month.

The alliance includes representatives from Greenwich, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Weston, Darien, Bridgewater, New Milford, Redding, Westport, Wilton, Pound Ridge, N.Y., and the cities of Norwalk and Stamford.

Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei submitted written testimony as Wilton First Selectman William Brennan, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi and Darien Selectwoman Callie Sullivan, speaking for First Selectman Evonne Klein, testified at the hearing.

Norwalk and New Canaan did not send representatives to the March hearing, which centered on Resolution No. 18, “Memorializing Congress to Protect the Public Health and Safety of Connecticut Residents in the Airspace Redesign over Southwest Connecticut by the Federal Aviation Administration.” The measure was introduced by 25th District state Sen. Robert Duff, a Norwalk Democrat.

“This is a state issue, not a regional one,” Redding First Selectman Natalie Ketchum wrote. “Fairfield County is the economic engine that drives the state of Connecticut’s economy. A threat to this region will reverberate throughout the state, with potentially disastrous consequences.”

“This is more than a case of ‘NIMBY,’ or ‘Not in My Airspace,” Ms. Sullivan told legislators. “People who purchased homes under flight paths knew what they were getting into. Now all of our residents who paid a premium for their homes will be hit in their pocketbooks .... This has economic impacts — and tax implications — which have not been addressed.”

Officials who testified expressed fears of increased pollution and noise.

“This plan will further exacerbate the poor air quality facing our region and particularly impact our children and citizens with compromised respiratory and immune systems,” Mr. Tesei wrote, urging the FAA to solicit input from local officials regarding a redesign.

“We are living in an era when protecting our environment is of utmost concern to residents,” Mr. Tesei added. “Our bipartisan Board of Selectmen recently established an Environmental Action Task Force to study and address a wide range of issues focused on improving our environment. The FAA’s airspace redesign proposal represents a major step in the opposite direction.”

A major request from the airspace alliance was for money.

“Gov. [M. Jodi] Rell and Attorney General [Richard] Blumenthal have both opposed this ill-conceived project and the AG has filed suit to stop it,” Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.

Ms. Rell and Mr. Blumenthal are invited to Monday’s forum in town, as are as U.S. Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, U.S. Reps. Christopher Shays and John Hall (D-NY), and FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell.