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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 6571 City of Palo Alto (ID # 6571) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Informational Report Meeting Date: 2/22/2016 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Council Priority: Land Use and Transportation Planning Summary Title: 2015 Airport Annual Noise Report Title: Palo Alto Airport - 2015 Annual Aircraft Noise Complaints Report From: City Manager Lead Department: Public Works Recommendation This is an informational report only and no Council action is required. Discussion The purpose of the Palo Alto Airport Annual Aircraft Noise Complaints Report is to identify noise trends in the surrounding areas and determine compliance with established voluntary noise abatement procedures. Attachment A is the first report prepared by Public Works Department’s Airport Division staff on the aircraft noise complaints received during its first year of operation and includes the last quarter of 2014. The Palo Alto Airport (PAO) receives noise complaints via e-mail at pao@cityofpaloalto.org and a designated hotline, 650-329-2405. Staff review and respond timely to all complaints ascertaining from complainants their contact information and the date, time and description of the offending occurrence. Staff review and compile the data to determine flying activity trends. Staff contact pilots when violations are observed or reported, advising them of established procedures, requesting compliance and reminding them about our neighborly commitment to the community. This report will be generated in January on an annual basis and posted to the airport’s webpage: www.cityofpaloalto.org/PAO. City of Palo Alto Page 2 Courtesy copies to: Palo Alto Airport Association Attachments:  Palo Alto Airport - 2015 Annual Aircraft Noise Complaints Report (DOCX) PALO ALTO AIRPORT PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 2015 ANNUAL NOISE COMPLAINTS REPORT (*August 2014 to December 2015) AUG 2014 – SEPT 2015 (Q4 2014 – Q3 2015)* Vision: Palo Alto Airport strives to balance the rights of pilots to fly with the rights of neighbors to a peaceful living environment. This document is a report of the noise complaints received by the airport during its first year of operation. Airport staff uses this information to identify trends in neighboring communities. These trends inform communications between airport staff and pilots on the issue of noise. This report will be generated annually in January. *This report includes the last quarter of 2014. Introduction: The following is a report of noise complaints received by Palo Alto Airport (PAO) during the first year of operation by the City of Palo Alto. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines air travel routes and procedures, including defining separation distances between aircraft, determining hazards to aviation and all other safety criteria for aircraft, and is responsible for directing and enforcing the movement of aircraft in flight. Although organizations can petition the FAA regarding flight procedures, the FAA has the final say in what is safe and acceptable. The Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) of 1990 federally prohibits public-use airports from restricting airspace in anyway. The FAA measures noise based on the Yearly Day and Night Average Sound Level (DNL) and the Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL). While both are essentially the same, airports in California use the CNEL method to measure noise. CNEL is a method of averaging single event aircraft noise into a weighted 24-hour average. The system adds penalties to all events occurring during the evening (7pm – 10pm) and the night (10pm – 7am). The Santa Clara County Airport Land Use Commission (SCC ALUC) performed a noise study for the Palo Alto Airport using the CNEL to determine the noise contours for 55, 60, 65, and 70 decibels. The contour map is included as Attachment A. Regarding safety and altitude, the FAA has in place Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) that establishes Minimum Safe Altitudes (MSAs) for aircraft. For fixed wing aircraft, the minimum is 1000 feet above ground when over congested areas and 500 feet when not over congested areas. These minimum altitudes apply to all fixed wing aircraft except when necessary for landing and takeoff operations. Helicopters are exempt from these altitude restrictions due to the nature of their flight. These minimum altitudes are enforced by the FAA Flight Standards District Office in San Jose and not Palo Alto Airport. Although, Palo Alto Airport cannot tell pilots when or where to fly; the airport, however, does have voluntary noise abatement procedures that Palo Alto Airport recommends that pilots follow. (See the Noise Abatement Procedures section below.) The airport receives noise complaints via email at pao@cityofpaloalto.org and a noise complaint hotline 650-329-2405. Airport staff review and timely respond to all complaints ascertaining as much information from complainants, including contact information, date, time and description of the occurrence. Various flight trackers can be used in an attempt to help identify the aircraft involved and verify if FAA regulations or Palo Alto Airport procedures were violated. The airport staff reviews and compiles all data to determine trends with flying activities. Purpose: The purpose of the Palo Alto Airport Annual Noise Report is to identify noise trends in the surrounding areas and determine compliance with established voluntary noise abatement procedures. Airspace: The Palo Alto Airport airspace is unique. The congested Bay Area airspace is dominated by SFO Class Bravo airspace, which encompasses a 30 nautical mile radius around SFO. Palo Alto Airport Sectional Map Palo Alto Airport in Green PAO Airspace highlighted in Red Source: http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=37.461&lon=-122.115&zoom=10 Underneath the Class Bravo airspace lays the Class Charlie airspace of Oakland and San Jose international airports. Finally, Moffett Airfield lies approximately 4 nautical miles to the southeast of Palo Alto Airport. As a result, Palo Alto Airport airspace ends only 1.5 nautical miles southeast of Runway 31’s final approach. To land at Palo Alto Airport, aircraft must turn before entering Moffett’s airspace, resulting in aircraft having to space themselves in traffic patterns over the peninsula when take-off/landing volumes peak. The FAA’s Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) at Palo Alto Airport has a letter of agreement with Moffett’s ATCT providing Palo Alto Airport aircraft with extensions into Moffett airspace when Moffett airfield is not in use. The additional airspace is a useful mitigation tool during busy times. Further restrictions in Palo Alto Airport airspace come from San Jose Class C airspace, starting at 1500 feet Mean Sea Level, just southeast of Palo Alto Airport and SFO Class B airspace, starting at 2500 feet Mean Sea Level, just northeast of the Palo Alto Airport. Both are identified on the Palo Alto Airport Sectional Map: San Jose Class C is shown with thick magenta lines and SFO Class B is shown with thick blue lines. These restrictions play a vital role in aircraft departures, in turn influencing noise abatement procedures for the Palo Alto Airport. Noise Abatement Procedures: Noise abatement procedures are voluntary procedures that the airport asks pilots to follow. The airport is prohibited from restricting airspace. Palo Alto Airport staff will speak with individual pilots and educate them about the voluntary noise abatement procedures. The Palo Alto Airport cannot levy fines on pilots that violate the voluntary noise procedures. For illustrated noise abatement procedures reference Palo Alto Airport Pilots Handout included as Attachment B. Pilots are asked to fly over the bay whenever possible. If pilots must fly over the peninsula, they are asked to reduce power and fly at or above 1500 feet above ground before crossing Highway 101. Staff also asks that aircraft not make a left crosswind departure, but instead make a “Left Dumbarton Departure” (fly to the Dumbarton Auto Bridge before making a left turn and flying over East Palo Alto) or a right 270 degree turn whenever departing to the south or west from Runway 31. When aircraft are using Runway 13, pilots are asked to make a left 270 departure before flying west over Palo Alto. For arrivals, it is standard practice and necessary for pilots to descend to pattern altitude before entering the traffic pattern around PAO, sometimes requiring aircraft to descend below the 1500 feet minimum over Palo Alto. As these aircraft are descending to land the engines are generally powered back and quieter than ascending aircraft. Airport staff continuously engages with tenants and pilots about the voluntary noise abatement procedures, always noting that safety always supersedes noise. Findings: The Palo Alto Airport remains the third busiest airport in the bay area with an average of 172,000 operations per year since 2010, significantly less than the average of 198,000 operations per year between 1990 and 2009 (Table 1). An operation is defined as either a takeoff or a landing and a touch- and-go procedure will account for two operations. Table 1. Airport Operations Air Taxi Military Total Air Taxi Military Total 1990 8 18 183635 2003 17 1 212981 1991 0 0 230526 2004 619 12 199453 1992 0 0 232789 2005 2397 28 184821 1993 243 38 212303 2006 1932 17 176570 1994 313 0 207404 2007 1440 318 181883 1995 261 16 187650 2008 1697 280 174332 1996 60 0 197582 2009 1650 301 155556 1997 1 0 205311 2010 2077 6 158217 1998 8 12 192093 2011 1572 8 170389 1999 13 8 205436 2012 1700 16 176564 2000 2 0 197283 2013 1628 14 172653 2001 29 370 216483 2014 1518 22 179900 2002 62 1 208755 2015 1082 118 172132 Since the City of Palo Alto assumed operational control of the airport, 179 noise complaints from 53 households have been logged. Table 2 shows the number of complaints by quarter. In 2015, forty three complaints involving non-PAO associated aircraft were logged. This means the aircraft were neither based at nor landing/taking off from PAO. These flights were simply passing through PAO airspace and have included CHP, Coast Guard, Air Taxi’s, survey and/or banner towing operations. Charter operations, angel flights, and life flights are considered Air Taxi’s. Table 3 shows aircraft noise association by quarter. In the cases of the two unknown aircraft operations, airport staff were not able to identify the aircraft from the information provided and attempts to learn more went unanswered. Table 2. Total Complaints Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Total Complaints 17 62 24 39 37 179 Households 10 12 9 26 12 53 Table 3. Aircraft Association Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Total PAO 15 51 21 21 26 134 Non-PAO 2 10 3 17 11 43 Unknown 1 1 2 Total 17 62 24 39 37 179 City C H C H C H C H C H C H Atherton 1 1 1 1 Burlingame 1 1 1 1 East Palo Alto 10 3 27 2 7 2 4 2 1 1 49 4 Fremont 4 1 4 1 Los Altos 2 2 2 2 Los Altos Hills 1 1 1 1 Los Gatos 16 2 16 2 Menlo Park 1 1 3 1 3 3 1 1 8 4 Mountain View 2 2 2 2 Newark 1 1 1 1 Palo Alto 4 4 34 9 12 4 16 8 11 4 77 22 Pleasanton 1 1 1 1 Portolla Valley 3 2 3 2 Redwood Shores 3 1 2 1 5 1 San Jose 1 1 1 1 Stanfod 1 1 1 1 Sunnyvale 1 1 1 1 Watsonville 1 1 1 1 Unknown 1 1 3 3 4 4 * C is number of Complaints / H is number of households Total Table 4. Palo Alto Airport Noise Complaints by City Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Table 4 provides a detailed breakdown of complaints by city. Most complaints came from Palo Alto, with 77 complaints logged from 22 households and more than half of those received in the first quarter of 2015. East Palo Alto was the second most impacted city, with 49 from four households. Together the two cities accounted for 80% of all noise complaints. The high rate of winter 2015 complaints could be due to the dense air caused by colder weather amplifying sound levels. Alternately, the third quarter of 2015 was the second highest quarter for complaints, which may be attributable to households being more open in the warm evening hours of summer. While airport staff attempts to collect all information possible, some residents choose to remain anonymous. The majority of all complaints emanated from the Midtown neighborhood, with 49 logged from four households (Table 5). Attachment C is the map Palo Alto Airport staff used to identify Palo Alto neighborhoods. Eighteen of the aircraft associated with Palo Alto city complaints were not associated with the Palo Alto Airport. Neighborhood C H C H C H C H C H C H Baron Park 1 1 1 1 Community Center 2 1 2 1 4 1 Cresent Park 2 1 2 1 Greenmeadow 2 1 1 1 3 1 Leland Maner 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 3 Midtown 1 1 26 3 7 1 7 2 8 2 49 4 Old Palo Alto 1 1 1 1 Palo Verde 3 2 1 1 4 3 St Francis 1 1 2 1 5 3 Ventura 1 1 1 1 Unknown 2 2 1 1 3 3 Table 5. Palo Alto Complaints by Neighborhood * C is number of Complaints / H is number of households Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Total Q4 2015 Following is a noise contour map for PAO, adopted by the Santa Clara County Airport Land Use Commission (SCC ALUC) in their 2008 Comprehensive Land Use Plan, reflecting the forecasted noise contours for Palo Alto Airport in 2022. SCC ALUC used the Integrated Noise Model which considers airport altitude, mean temperature, runway configuration, aircraft flight track definition, aircraft departure and approach profiles, aircraft traffic volume and fleet mix, and flight track utilization by aircraft types. All data is entered into the CNEL formula to prepare the noise contours for Palo Alto Airport. Refer to https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/DocsForms/Documents/ALUC_20081119_PAO_CLUP.pdf, for a more detailed description of how the SCC ALUC prepared this map. The 65 decibel (db) noise level of the airport extends beyond the airport boundaries, but is only over Palo Alto Golf Course, Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, and the salt marshes in San Mateo County and is the threshold at which FAA requires noise mitigation programs. Attachment A PAO Noise Contour Map 2022 Forecasted Palo Alto Airport Noise Contour Map Attachment B PAO Pilot Handout Santa Clara County created a Pilot Handout for Palo Alto Airport that described the noise abatement procedures. When the City of Palo Alto assumed control of the airport, the existing noise abatement procedures were adopted, with one exception, “pilots must maintain 1500 feet or above across Highway 101” was replaced with “Aircraft are asked to climb to and maintain at least 1500 feet before crossing Highway 101.” The change is consistent with the voluntary nature of noise abatement procedures as airports are federally prohibited from instructing pilots how to fly. Bayside Pattern Left 270 Right 270 Peninsula Side Pattern Left Dumbarton Departure Not to be used for navigation Safety First Be Aware Palo Alto Airport Lies under SFO Class B Airspace Key Pattern Noise Abatement Departures RWY 31 RWY 13 Noise Abatement Procedures Please fly neighborly and be aware of the surrounding communities. There are noise sensitive areas to the west and south of the Airport. Aircraft are asked to climb to and maintain at least 1500 feet before crossing Highway 101. Fly over the bay whenever possible. Please use reduced power setting whenever possible to reduce noise impacts. Even a reduction in a 200 RPM can significantly reduce noise. Safety Always Supersedes Noise Abatement Palo Alto Airport General Information Bayside Pattern Alt - 800 feet Peninsula Side Pattern Alt – 1000 feet MSL ATCT hours of operation – 0700 – 2100 hrs ATC / CTA Frequency – 118.600 ATC Ground Frequency – 125.000 Airport Office Phone # – (650) 329-2444 320 Preferred Departures Runway 31 Left Dumbarton Departure When departing runway 31 turn right 10 on takeoff and climb over the bay. Fly straight to Dumbarton Auto Bridge before making a left turn to fly over the peninsula or to the south. Cross Highway 101 at or above 1500 feet. Left 270 Departure After takeoff climb over the bay while making a 270 turn and heading west or south over the peninsula. Cross Highway 101 at or above 1500 feet. Runway 13 Right 270 Departure After takeoff turn right over and climb over the bay while making a 270 turn and heading west or south over peninsula. Cross Highway 101 at or above 1500 feet. Palo Alto Airport asks for your cooperation in reducing the noise impact of aircraft on the neighboring communities. Attachment C Map of Palo Alto Households 4 38 Note: There were 18 calls from Palo Alto that did not involve aircraft from the Palo Alto Airport and are not included on this map. The number in each circle represents the number of calls or emails from a single household.