A battle over flight paths mirrors a similar effort from nearly five decades ago.

David Schmalz here. A few weeks ago, I was researching something that happened locally in April 1978, but I wasn’t sure when in April, so I found myself at the Monterey Public Library reading microfiche of the Monterey Peninsula Herald from that time.

Before I found what I was looking for, I came upon a front-page story by Lewis Leader, who was then a young reporter and is now retired and living in Carmel Valley, headlined: “Pair’s Survey of Aircraft Takeoffs Shows Altitude Minimums Often Ignored.” 

Airplane noise had been a community concern—an advisory noise abatement policy had just recently been adopted by the board, and the article is about a retired couple from Pebble Beach who had spent 11-and-a-half hours observing flights take off and land in late January 1978. 

In nearly 80 percent of the flights over areas south and southwest of the airport—the area then generating the most noise complaints—they would have been in violation of the noise abatement policy the Monterey Peninsula Airport District board had just recently adopted, the couple reported. Leader’s article makes clear that policy was not enforceable. 

I was struck by the cyclical nature of the issue, while also recognizing federal flight paths have changed and now impact a whole new set of residents, which was the subject of a story I wrote in August—whether to finally repeal three ordinances from 47-plus years ago that were never enforceable. 

The MPAD board voted unanimously to repeal the ordinances on Sept. 17, which I’m told was packed to capacity despite the 8am start on a Wednesday. The meeting lasted more than three hours, and while the ordinances were repealed, it was clear the board was sympathetic. I’m now told that it appears there will likely be at least a few concessions regarding making board meeting times more accessible to working people, and moving the monthly board meetings to the evenings will be on the board’s next agenda. 

I was curious what Leader thinks about the drama playing out now, given that he covered the issue nearly 50 years ago. Leader says he thinks it might be because people move and new ones move in, or people’s concerns had been ameliorated. He also says it was the first board he covered—he had just transitioned from covering sports—and recalls the board being “very good” and "conscientious” in “trying to deal with a real issue.” He also recalled Leon Panetta got involved and was able to bring in federal money to soundproof homes. 

Chris Morello, the airport’s interim executive director, confirms that, and says it was a 25-year program where over 800 units were sound-insulated—mostly in the Casanova Oak Knolls and Del Monte Beach neighborhoods—through more than $23 million made available in 13 different rounds. She says in each one, about 92 percent of eligible property owners took advantage. 

So here we are now, in a time of new flight paths going over homes that have not had sound-proofing assistance. At the Sept. 17 meeting, board member Jonathan Ahmadi said he heard and understood the residents’ concerns, and urged them to go through the formal process of applying to the Federal Aviation Administration to alter the flight paths—the FAA has control, not the MPAD board. 

How it all plays out this time is anybody’s guess, but federal money might not be so easy to come by.