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by Christina Mlynski
What first drew you to Southlake? For many, it was the tree-lined streets and parks, great schools and world-classbrshopping — along with the close proximity to DFWbrAirport, a gateway to nonstop travel to just aboutbranywhere in the world. But lately that benefit has comebrat a price.
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While aircraft noise has been a concern for Southlakebrresidents since the ’80s, the last 18 months have seen anbrescalation in the use of runways that allow for planes tobrarrive and depart directly over the city.
In particular, the runway known as 31L at DFW Inter-brnational Airport has become a challenge for residentsbrand thus a challenge for city officials.
“In the fall of 2013, the wind patterns allowed for morebraircraft to land on the runway and the noise complaintsbrcame piling in,” explains former Southlake City Council-brwoman Pamela Muller, who has been a part of Southlake’sbraircraft noise and utilization program for more than 25bryears. “It’s nothing the tower is doing or the pilot is doing.brIt’s just nature.”br
That particular runway is typically used just 2 per-brcent of the time for departures, when there are strongbrwinds out of the north — but it’s on those very days thatbraircraft will experience drift and therefore find it morebrdifficult to maintain the center line of the aircraft utili-brzation zone over Southlake. In addition, in recent yearsbrDFW Airport adjusted practices on this runway causingbra higher volume of departures because of newbrmaintenance programs.br
According to airport officials, “Regular airport run-brway closures are necessary for safe operations on DFW’sbrairfield, from painting runway markings and replacingbrlighting, to extensive pavement repairs. While DFW mustbrperiodically close runways for safety and maintenance,brDFW developed its runway closure program with localbrcommunities in mind to keep them informed and mini-brmize potential noise impacts.”br
By working with local communities’ best inter-brests in mind, DFW does schedule necessary runwaybrclosures during less-impactful periods of the year, typicallybrsummer months, where the weather is expected tobrcause fewer delays in construction.br
The airport, in its efforts to keep surrounding citiesbrinformed, announced closures on runway 31L, whichbrbegan in June of this year, but end August 17. Thebrpredominantly south winds over the summer monthsbrenable the Federal Aircraft Administration to regularlybrredistribute flights away from 31L.br
But remaining scheduled closures for this fall,brincluding those of the eastern runways 35C and 35R,brwill ultimately affect air traffic over Southlake. AlthoughbrDFW Airport does not anticipate those closures tobrsignificantly affect operations closer to the area, it doesbrnote, “the FAA must necessarily redistribute aircraftbrduring a runway closure in order to safely and efficientlybrmove aircraft in and out of DFW Airport, which maybrinclude use of Runway 31L, in particular, as aircraftbroperations continue to grow.”br
With a unique vantage point as both the Mayor ofbrSouthlake and Vice President of Commercial Develop-brment for DFW Airport, John Terrell has a solid under-brstanding of the situation — past, present and future. He explains, “Sincebrthe 1980s, the City of Southlake has worked with the FAA the DFW Airport Boardbrand its staff on land use and noise concerns. This team effort resultedbrin the development of the Air Corridor Utilization Zones to clearly identifybrareas where airplanes might fly over Southlake particularly during takeoff. brIn the end, this document has helped City leaders effectively manage and guidebrSouthlake’s development requests.”
By the end of the ’80s, Southlakebrwas in a legal battle with the Federal Aviation Administration, DFW Airport andbra few airlines as a result of aircraft noise. However, a settlement was reachedbrin which an agreed upon noise-impact corridor was established.
The city currently uses thisbrnoise-impact corridor in its land-use planning. Southlake and the airport havebra compatibility agreement in which the city agreed to limit development that isbrin proximity of the airport when it comes to residential, commercialbrdevelopments, schools and child care centers. br
If an incompatible development,brwhich was outlined by the FAA, is planned within in the area, the airport willbrsend a notice to Southlake with its objections. Additionally, Southlake hasbrrequired enhanced building standards of all developments within this corridor.
“We agreedbrthat if [the FAA and DFW Airport] keep the aircraft on the center line, we willbrrequire insulation for noise reduction within the homes,” Muller says.br“Fortunately, the homes are built so well that it hasn’t been a difficult issue.brWe also make homeowners sign a form so that they know where the aircraft arebrand what to expect.”
WhilebrSouthlake understands there is little the city can do to regulate or manage thebractivities of a federal agency or even a quasi-governmental entity such as DFWbrAirport, city councilmembers rely on open communication between the partiesbrinvolved in managing the community’s expectations.
Such an arrangement has proven tobrbe helpful in developing initiatives aimed at reducing noise as much asbrpossible. DFW’s Noise Compatibility Program, for instance, utilizes noisebrsensors to actively monitor aircraft noise levels not only around the airportbrbut in surrounding communities. The program also maintains a 24-hour hourbrtelephone hotline and manages email inquiries through the address dfwnoise@dfwairport.com.
Southlake alsobrjoined a national organization that works to reduce aircraft noise called thebrNational Organization to Insure a Sound Controlled Environment (NOISE). Thebrgroup represents communities trying to find solutions to aviation noise. Thebrcity set aside money in its 2014 budget to join NOISE after complaints over thebraircraft traffic surfaced in 2012 and 2013. Southlake is the only communitybrwithin the advocacy group that had adopted a Master Land Use plan that takesbrinto consideration the current flight patterns and the appropriate land usesbrunder these areas.
DFW Airport officials in the noisebrcompatibility office constantly monitor flight tracks. However since the runwaybrpointing toward Southlake does not have the computer navigational aid of otherbrrunways, known as NextGen, strong winds can push aircraft over residentialbrareas.
DFW Airportbrand the FAA agreed roughly 10 years ago that the runways impacting the citybraren’t used often enough to warrant navigational equipment. Given that NextGen isbrnot a part of the main runways at the airport, planes may begin to drift in abrstrong north wind, pushing the aircraft over more populated areas. And DFWbrmonitors sound from aircrafts and from local community activities through thebruse of 35 permanently mounted noise monitor sites located in nine cities in threebrcounties over a 110-square mile area.
While FAA and DFW Airport do not see anbrimmediate need for navigational aid, technologies to reduce aircraft noise havebrevolved over time through efforts of aircraft and engine manufacturers as wellbras NASA. The ultimate goal of satellite aids such as NextGen is to createbrgreater efficiencies, resulting in more flexible and direct flight paths overbrcommercial and residential developments.
In the meantime,br“It’s quite obvious that there’s a fairly simple solution,” Muller says. “Otherbrcommunities are building residences right up to the airport, but we’ve got tobrall live together. We are all neighbors. There are a lot of executives who livebrin Southlake because of the convenience to the airport and the noise becomes abrbackdrop.”
“The negative impact to neighboringbrcities close to DFW Airport, like Southlake, Grapevine, Colleyville, Coppellbrand Euless, is that there will be airplane noise when you live around a majorbrairport,” explains former city councilman Martin Schelling. “Over the years,brthe decibel noise from airplanes has been greatly reduced and will continue tobrbe reduced with newer technology. Unfortunately, they will never be completelybrsilent.”
Still, the bigger benefit of livingbrin proximity to one of the busiest airports in the country seems to be a validbrpoint to live in Southlake and surrounding communities. “Living close to anbrinternational airport provides great access to most destinations in the U.S.brand world, and generally with good prices and itineraries,” Schelling says. “Ibrdon’t believe that the airplane noise will significantly affect our way of lifebrin Southlake, unless the FAA changes the flight patterns and approachbrelevations from the way they are operating today.”
In the end, departures overbrSouthlake account for a small percent of DFW’s total operations, still thebrairport continues to work collaboratively with both FAA and the airlines tobrseek short-term practices, which could lead to the best long-term solutions. Onebrsuccessful initiative implemented during last year’s increased traffic was tobrhave the runway’s departing aircraft reduce the number of low altitude turnoutsbrwithin a 5-mile mark.
With thoughts of the future MayorbrTerrell says, “Ongoing communicationbris the key to this conversation. A lot has changed since the 1980s and ourbrconversations need to evolve as well. I know that all sides are committedbrto making this work and to bring great ideas to the table.”