HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3ABegin forwarded message:
From: Mark Saladino
Subject: Airport Expansion
Date: January 18, 2024 at 10:37:12 AM PST
To: Jeffrey.Bernstein@palmspringsca.gov
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Dear Mayor Bernstein,
My husband and I have been residents of your District since 1986, full-time since
2021. Our home has always been north of Racquet Club Road, between Sunrise
Way and Avenida Caballeros. As you probably know, that puts us in the flight
path of most flights taking off from Palm Springs International Airport. That was
never a problem because the number of flights per day - even in season and
around holidays - was rather modest.
In recent years, airport traffic has grown quite substantially with the addition of
new airlines serving PSP as well as an increased number of flights. This has
affected not only the quality of life for me and my neighbors, but it is also starting
to threaten property values in my neighborhood. Now the city is considering
expending the airport and its capacity by orders of magnitude. Obviously such a
huge increase in air traffic would have enormous negative effects on my beloved
neighborhood. Back in 1986 homes in my area cost less than $100,000. Now
many are upwards of $1 million, including mine.
So I’m writing to oppose the airport expansion as currently proposed, and I’d like
to know whether an Environmental Impact Report has been prepared or ordered
by the city. If so, I would like to know whether and to what extent effects on
residential areas near the airport were analyzed.
I realize that the city has little control over airport operations, but it should be
noted that planes that bank slightly northward on takeoff don’t affect us, nor do
they pass over developed areas at all. If air traffic controllers implemented that as
a requirement for all takeoffs, the problem would likely be solved.
Please let me know how my concerns might be memorialized in the public record,
how I can provide input for the EIR, and how you and the City Council might be
able to help us resolve this very upsetting situation. I’m also happy to discuss this
matter in person at your convenience. PSP shouldn’t become LAX but that’s
what it looks like could happen in the next 10-20 years.
Thanks for your time and attention.
Mark Saladino
01/25/2024
Public Comment
Item 3A
Begin forwarded message:
From: Claude Peck
Subject: Airport expansion and airport noise
Date: January 21, 2024 at 10:37:07 PM PST
To: Jeffrey.Bernstein@palmspringsca.gov
NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or
open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe.
Dear Jeffrey,
We met briefly here at Sagewood condos for a pre-election gathering. Congrats on
your election and on becoming the mayor!
As I read the rah-rah coverage in Desert Sun about the "huge" expansion of PSP
airport, I despair that airport growth is all about "economic opportunities" and "a
growing and vital tourist trade." My concern is that airport noise (and pollution)
absolutely have to be part of the discussion.
I wrote to the Sun reporter who covers this, pleading with him to go beyond the
Chamber of Commerce pom-poms to look at existing airport noise (considerable,
for those who live near the runways) and the projected increase that will come
with expansion. In Minneapolis, where I lived for years and worked as an editor
for the Star Tribune newspaper, airport noise was a major debate, with hundreds
of millions of dollars granted to homeowners in affected neighborhoods to
insulate houses against the deafening roar of commercial jetliners.
Here, where much of life is lived outdoors, I already hear owners at Sagewood
fretting that if they don't sell soon, their homes will become worthless because of
a doubling of airport noise, Is that what we want to see at the beautiful Donald
Wexler complex here, or at his famed residential development at El Rancho Vista
Estates? The town's entire north end will be adversely affected, hardly a good
thing for economic vitality.
I urge you and your colleagues at City Hall to demand answers to hard questions.
What are current noise levels, and projected levels post-expansion? Let's get the
information out there so people can decide if they can stand a doubling of current
noise. Add air quality to the mix, as our famed clear blue skies turn murky with
airport-related pollution.
Thanks for listening, and here's hoping that we can at least get this onto the table
for debate and discussion.
Yours,
Claude Peck
01/25/2024
Public Comment
Item 3A
01/25/2024
Public Comment
Item 3A