FAA Readies To Approve New Altitudes around East Hampton Airport

East Hampton is one step closer to having more control over the airspace, according to town officials.

On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration published a formal notice in the Federal Register of its proposal to establish more restrictive airspace for all aircraft within a 5-mile radius of to accommodate the new .

The town-owned airport would be given the highest designation of Class D, to provide a minimum altitude of 2,500 feet, during the height of traffic and an amended Class E designation in the less busy months. Under the current Class E designation, aircrafts are restricted to at least 700 feet.

Under federal regulations, the agency has to accept comments until April 30. 

"This is a huge milestone in our effort to achieve control of our airspace," said Councilman Dominick Stanzione, who is the airport liaison. He said he traveled to Washington, D.C., three weeks ago to meet with a number of representatives from six different FAA departments to hammer out issues that could have delayed getting a control tower for the 2012 summer season.

The town board is expected to enter into a contract with Robertson Aviation for air traffic control services during its meeting on Thursday night. The contract is for about $350,000.

According to Stanzione, the new class designation will help those who are affected by helicopter noise. He noted that the airspace designation was an essential element of the town's comprehensive noise abatement plan laid out in December. "This is critical to local control," he said.

Kathy Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the Quiet Skies Committee, which seeks to reduce air noise and air pollution on the East End, said, "Any tools that the town can employ for noise mitigation are welcome but the real value in the class designation for the control tower will be in the hands of the control and until we know who gives him his marching orders it's an unknown."

On behalf of the East Hampton Aviation Association, their attorney, Anthony Pasca said, "This control tower is what's going to have the most impact on helicopter noise." He said the association approved of the designation and thanked Stanzione for his hard work.

Comments can be sent to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590–0001, or submitted online at regulations.gov. The Docket Number FAA–2012– 0217; Airspace Docket No. 12–AEA–2, must be referenced at the beginning of your comments.