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Hi Neighbors!
We have another update for you on the year-round flight restrictions at Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA) implemented by the FAA on October 20th, following an order from the U.S. Secret Service. This is the 9th newsletter update. You can find previous ones here.
In this newsletter we’re talking about noise monitors a lot.
CCAN noise monitor update
At the last CCAN meeting, committee members approved the installation of five noise monitors in existing locations, and requested that airport staff work with the Town of Palm Beach to identify a location for a portable monitor as well as discuss the best location for another permanent noise monitor on the Island.
We have since learned, through a Palm Beach Post story by Palm Beach Daily News reporter Kristina Webb, that Town Hall has identified potential sites — all near existing stormwater pumps with power and antenna infrastructure — and has sent the list to Palm Beach County's Department of Airports, which will choose the preferred locations.
At the next CCAN meeting, scheduled for February 26th at 3:00 P.M. at the Department of Airports Administrative Building, airport staff will present location recommendations for five additional monitors.
Note that the CCAN meeting will be live streamed, so you can watch it live from work or home, or after the fact. Watch it live here.
Resident launches PBInoise.com
A Palm Beach resident wrote to us that they purchased a professional-grade noise monitoring device and then built an application to correlate the noise spikes with the flight information (using data from FlightAware). "The devices measures an important FAA noise metric called Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL). If monitoring shows that DNL exceeds 65 dB, it places significant pressure on the FAA to act," wrote the resident.
Here is the link to the application at PBInoise.com. Be sure to visit the site and look at the subpages that go into more detail.
They are interested in expanding data collection by adding three or four locations right under the flight path in the worst-affected West Palm Beach neighborhoods for new noise-monitoring devices.
Help gather noise data
So if you live directly under the flight path, and have an open view of the sky for a small 6” long device, we would love to hear from you. There is no cost to and someone will help install the device. In return you will get accurate data proving how serious the problem is.
If you’re interested in this send us an email at district2@pbc.gov, include your address and phone number, and we will be in touch.
Petition for review: Court gives FAA until March 2 to produce
On the legal front, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach County have a combined petition pending before a US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, challenging the FAA's decision. Their core argument is that the airspace should reopen when Trump isn't home — drawing a parallel to a 2024 compromise that reopened South Ocean Boulevard under the same logic. The FAA has until March 2 to produce documents in the case.
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