Longmont residents implored city officials to combat excessive noise emanating from planes taking off and landing at Vance Brand Airport this year.
Located at 229 Airport Road, about three miles southwest of downtown Longmont, the municipal airport had received more than 260 complaints this year as of November, with the vast majority being noise related, according to a presentation delivered by Airport Manager Levi Brown to the City Council.
At the Nov. 19 City Council meeting, many residents took issue with flight school pilots conducting touch-and-go landings at the airport and in turn disrupting their quality of life. During public comment, one speaker even played a recording of a particularly loud plane flying over his home for the council to hear.
The airport has voluntary noise abatement procedures in place such as asking pilots to avoid touch-and-go landings before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m., according to the city's website. However, many residents suggested that planes making excessive noise start much earlier in the morning than 8 a.m. and continue very late into the night.
City officials listened to their constituents' concerns but also made clear that the Federal Aviation Administration largely governs airport operations and that there is only so much the city could do to mitigate noise impacts.
The City Council voted unanimously to discuss potential solutions to complaints about the airport in a future executive session, which is a closed-door meeting. Under Colorado law, public bodies such as the City Council can hold executive sessions to do things such as receive legal advice from an attorney, for example.
As of mid-November, there had been about 112,000 operations at the airport so far this year. An operation is a takeoff, landing or flyover.
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