Task force urges Rye to endorse airport master-plan addendum; council approves resolution

Michelle Goodman, a Rye resident and member of an intermunicipal airport master-plan task force, told the Rye Town Council on Sept. 18 that the group compiled an addendum to the county master plan and eight position papers that address noise, customer experience, stormwater, traffic, groundwater, fixed-based operators, air pollution and a reaffirmed policy opposing airport expansion.

“The task force’s goal was to draft a position paper to endorse the airport master plan and be a supplement to that,” Goodman said, describing a year of meetings by representatives from neighboring municipalities and residents who live under airport flight paths. She said the group’s work is intended to give municipalities “a voice of the residents saying what we want for the airport.”

Goodman highlighted a recent court ruling involving fixed-base operators. “Eighty percent of the flights that fly into Westchester Airport are private planes,” she said. She said operators successfully challenged a county restriction limiting certain private planes to nine seats; the decision could allow larger chartered aircraft that would affect noise and air quality, she warned.

Deputy and county-affiliated speakers at the meeting noted that curfew provisions are voluntary under federal rules and the county lacks authority to unilaterally impose fines; one resident who spoke at the meeting called attention to the court outcome and urged continued municipal coordination.

Supervisor Zuckerman and multiple council members praised the task force document’s depth and recommended the town lend its support to the addendum. When the council moved to adopt a resolution endorsing the task-force addendum, the motion passed on a roll call with all voting members present voting “yes.”

The task force asked the town to transmit the addendum and position papers to Westchester County as the municipalities continue to press for operational practices that protect neighborhoods from expanded nighttime or higher-capacity operations. The council recorded no immediate regulatory change; the next step is submitting the municipal addendum to county decision-makers and monitoring any further appeals in the court case referenced by speakers.

The council’s action was procedural—an endorsement for the record that all participating municipalities will pursue together; the town will not unilaterally change federal flight rules.

What happens next: the addendum will be sent to Westchester County; council members indicated they will follow county-level proceedings and seek county responses on curfew compliance, terminal use and fixed-base operator practices.