Save Vermont Airspace

Save Vermont Airspace

Conserving quiet and safe airspace and a healthy natural environment

We are a group of citizens and neighbors responding to the dramatic increase in demand for private airstrips and helipads in Vermont

TAKE ACTION

“These private facilities can dramatically change the character of an area and can have negative impacts while providing a private benefit to few.”

Vermont has long had private airstrips used infrequently by hobbyists or in agriculture. These new, private landing areas are used regularly to commute between homes, or to work, and as a replacement for cars, trains or buses. Today’s private landing areas are used by those who no longer consider ground transportation adequate for their lifestyle, are unwilling to drive to a local airport, and who can afford planes and helicopters. In other words, a very few people.

“Over the last few years, the Board has seen a significant increase in applications for private helipads and airstrips… These private facilities can dramatically change the character of an area and can have negative impacts while providing a private benefit to few.”
State of Vermont Transportation Board, February 2021

At the town level, communities should petition for a town-wide vote to allow or prohibit private landing areas. Private landing areas should only be considered as part of a town-wide process leading to a town-wide vote, and should not slide in, under a regulatory fog, against the will of the majority.

It is time for Vermont to catch up – for our town and state governments to give Vermonters a say, and proactively respond to the massive increased use of our shared airspace by aircraft and drones.

We must move away from piecemeal regulation toward a comprehensive state-wide approach that reflects the priorities of the majority of Vermonters.

“… the 1 percent [are] getting wealthier and looking for ways to avoid traffic… And a lot of communities are ill-prepared for the request.”

John Zicconi, State of Vermont Transportation Board.

Time for common sense regulation that supports the public at large

The use of our air “commons” by private planes, helicopters, and drones is impacting many Vermonters. However, legally we live in the “Wild West.” State and town governments are trying to catch up, and they need our help.

A temporary state-wide moratorium on new private landing areas should be passed by the state legislature. This will give the state government time to research and develop appropriate regulations, and provide the public and towns with information, guidance, and opportunities to contribute substantively to decision-making. Exemptions could be made for agricultural or other working landing areas.

Why have new private landing areas when we already have airports?

Save Vermont Airspace is not working to end private air travel in Vermont, but we want it to be safe and to be located where it makes sense – in our many airports.

Under the Vermont State Aeronautics Act, the definition of an airport differs from the definition of airstrips or helipads, which are classified as Restricted Landing Areas as stated in this letter written by the Vermont Transportation Board. According to the State Aeronautics Act, airports are designated to be “used or to be used in the interest of the general public”. The definition of a Restricted Landing Area does not include any requirement of the facility being used in the interest of the general public, making these facilities only valuable to those who own them, or others who are given limited access. You can find the full definitions of both Airports and Restricted Landing Areas in the State Aeronautics Act Here.

Vermont has a network of private, municipal and state airports which are regulated to address the wide range of safety, public nuisance, environmental and other issues raised by air travel. For most Vermonters, one or more airports are less than an hour away.

Airports are sited and expanded as part of public processes, which are important, even when contentious. In contrast, private landing strips and helipads can have little to no public review. Neighbors, over whose homes, farms and forest the planes and helicopters will fly, can be left out of the planning process completely. The location of most private landing areas is at the whim of a property owner, and not town zoning for private air travel or landing areas. There is little or no public and expert input, and environmental impacts, including on wildlife, are not considered.

Why would the state allow commuter, or regularly trafficked, private landing areas on properties less than an hour from an airport? Whom does this serve?

State, Municipal and Private Airports in Vermont

Source: State of Vermont Agency of Transportation, 2023

The state and federal governments allocate significant manpower and funds ensuring airports are safe, noise levels are reasonable, the public has a say, and the environment is minimally impacted. These facilities serve a large number of people.

Private landing areas serve a single family but have the same, or more, risks, noise, and quality of life impacts. Planes take off and land at low altitudes over neighbors’ homes and farms, disrupt wildlife and conservation areas, and change the character of towns. But unlike airports, the public and town governments have no say over the aspects of private landing area use with the greatest impacts on safety and quality of life. That is the purview of the federal and state governments alone.

The Federal Aviation Administration controls air travel once a plane or helicopter leaves the ground. A town cannot control how many flights a day, the hours of flights, types of aircraft… or anything else once a landing area is permitted. Town or state police have no jurisdiction over safety concerns, abuses or harassment with aircraft or drones. Despite this being a private activity, serving no broader public interest, its impact on the public appears to be largely unregulated in practice.

“The Feds control the actual air.”

It is as if an interstate highway was created in the sky with an endless number of private landing area “on-ramps.” There are no rules for the number or siting of on-ramps, and drivers largely regulate their own behavior. Of course, most pilots are responsible, considerate and well-trained, but just as with drivers on the interstate – not all.

“If it is not in our Town regulations, then it is not permitted. In the case of the State allowing something that is not in a municipality’s regulations, it is my understanding that the municipality is allowed to be stricter than the State in not allowing it. The exception to that is those things such as alternative energy and communication towers which the State regards as in the “public good”. In my opinion, a private airstrip does not fall under something that would be considered “in the public good.”
Ruth V. Robbins, Zoning Administrator/Planning Coordinator, Town of Warren.