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By Butch John
The Courier-Journal
A citizens committee working to lessen airport noise plans to meet in the Algonquin and Portland neighborhoods in the next few weeks, to discuss concerns that its recommendations could come at the expense of western Louisville residents. Leaders of the Noise Compatibility Study Group thought an airport noise-abatement plan would be approved by consensus at a public meeting Oct. 18. The plan would designate Louisville International Airport's west runway, rather than the east, as the primary runway. But the plan stalled after western Louisville and Southern Indiana residents complained that they'd been excluded from the process -- and that the runway shift would hurt them. ''I'm still puzzled how an alternative can be chosen if they never had a meeting in west Louisville to discuss it,'' Alderwoman Denise Bentley, an outspoken critic of the plan, said on Oct. 18. The study group adjourned its meeting without a decision and agreed to meet with Bentley and her constituents to work on a compromise. Had the proposal won approval, it would have been the start of a there to four-month process in which consultants next would determine the plan's feasibility, costs and other details. Eventually, the study group would approve a final version of the plan and turn it over to the Regional Airport Authority Board for approval. The Federal Aviation Administration must also approve the plan. Bentley will hold a Nov. 12 meeting at New Zion Baptist Church, 1501 S. 34th St. A second meeting organized by Alderwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton is scheduled Nov. 15 at an undetermined site in the Portland community, according to her office. The plan that seemed to have
the most support among committee members last week was to switch the majority of flights from the east runway to the west, which would lessen what the FAA terms ''significant'' noise on roughly 2,400 dwellings in the immediate airport area. Advocates of shifting low-flying planes to the west runway say the route would be over open industrial land for the most part, north of the airport. Noise would dissipate substantially as the planes came over neighborhoods farther to the north -- in western Louisville and Southern Indiana. The committee was trying to find a solution creating the least amount of noise for the fewest people, said Dorn Crawford, one of the noise study group's leaders. But he said he's willing to hear other suggestions. ''The main thing I took away (from the meeting) was resolve to reach out to people who don't feel they've been included in the process,'' Crawford said.
Though the noise meetings were public, Bentley said few western Louisville
residents participated because they'd received little information about the process. And many west Louisville leaders who might have been involved were busy with other commitments, said Sam Watkins Jr., president of the Louisville Central Development District. ''It's hard for me to get enough people together after work to have a meeting. They've got a full load with families, other activities and working with other problems closer to home,'' noted Watkins, who said he wasn't aware of the noise-abatement plan until
Bentley brought it up. ''I think crime and sanitation, community policing have been seemingly the priorities here. We've left the airport problems to
the airport neighborhoods,'' said Lucile Leggett, 82, a community activist in the California neighborhood. Crawford warned that the new meetings with western Louisville residents could result in a new round of public meetings and delay the process of lessening noise in airport-area neighborhoods. The process already is a year behind schedule, but Crawford said the committee is determined to make the best decision for as many people as possible, and to maintain a public forum. Airport general manager Jim DeLong said he is willing to let the process play out. ''We came out with a proposal that was not all things to all people. Now, it's up to the working group to modify it.'' The commission also plans further discussions with residents of Southern Indiana and University of Louisville officials.
Group's plan to cut plane noise stalls West Louisville residents object to rerouting flights By Scott Wade The Courier-Journal After two years of meetings, members of a citizens committee began Thursday night under the impression their work was nearly done. In a few hours, they hoped they would reach agreement to recommend that the majority of flights at Louisville International Airport be switched from the east runway to the west runway, which would reduce airplane noise for the greatest number of people. It would be the culmination of an unusual experiment in pure democracy: A volunteer, citizen-led effort to achieve citywide consensus, along economic, social and racial lines. The loose-knit group of about 200 participants consisted of residents whose lives had been interrupted by airport noise and who signed up to volunteer their time to find a solution. But as soon as Thursday night's public meeting began, it became clear that a solution was still far off. Residents of west Louisville, who had rarely attended meetings of the citizens committee, told committee members that they were discovering that the preferred flight path would take planes over their neighborhoods. And they didn't like it a bit. Frederick Liggin, a west Louisville resident and president of the Chickasaw Federation, was incredulous that none of the group members had seen what he said was obvious: The committee was on the brink of recommending a new flight path that would bring more airplanes than ever before over black neighborhoods in western Louisville, and no one made a special effort to notify those residents what was coming. ''Our quality of life is being diminished, and you're taking us down,'' he said, speaking into a microphone as committee members stared, taken aback by the implications of Liggin's comments. West Louisville residents already have to cope with sewage, rubber and chemical plants, Liggin said. They didn't think they needed to worry about airplanes flying overhead too, he said. Within three hours, the study group's hopes for reaching a consensus unraveled. Group Chairman Mike Clancey said no one disregarded western Louisville residents, or their concerns. The group widely publicized its mission, its meetings and its proposed flight alternatives, he said. They bought advertisements in The Courier-Journal, put their plans on the Louisville International Airport's Internet site and contacted the Russell neighborhood association. When the group started to focus on the west runway, with its flights over western Louisville, they invited alderwomen Denise Bentley and Cheri Bryant Hamilton to meet with them and J. Michael Brown, president of the Regional Airport Authority board. The alderwomen were told that their wards, in the heart of western Louisville, would see more airplane traffic with the west runway plan, the group said. But, group members said, it was the path that would affect the fewest residences. Moving most of the flights to the west runway would reduce by the number of households affected by intrusive airplane noise by three-fourths. Bentley didn't return a phone call to her office yesterday. On Thursday night, she told the study group it should have tried harder to encourage western Louisville residents to participate in the group's plan. Group members should have recognized the ''digital divide'' that exists in western Louisville, where many residents don't have Internet access, Bentley said Thursday night. ''We had really, really believed consensus was possible,'' he said. ''It's obvious now that we still have some work to do.'' That work will include holding a public meeting with western Louisville residents. It also will mean meeting with the University of Louisville and southern Indiana residents, who also are troubled by the proposed flight plans over western Louisville. Once the study group has remedied those concerns, it will recommend a route for the Regional Airport Authority's consultant to study. After the consultant scrutinizes the plan, it will come before a public hearing later this year. The Regional Airport Authority will vote early next year on the proposal it will recommend to the Federal Aviation Administration.