The Martin County Airport Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC) meets quarterly. ANAC is a result of the prior airport noise problems Martin County was forced to address — years ago — for properties adjacent to Witham Field. That residents who live “within a 2-mile radius” of the airport are invited to sit on the ANAC evidences this. That the 2017 complaints are outside of the 2-mile radius is indicative that we shouldn’t have to suffer the ridiculousness that is flight school noise. That ANAC meets only quarterly is indicative that Martin County doesn’t prioritize this issue highly. But we digress.
Since ANAC meets just quarterly, and it’s typical that meeting minutes from one meeting are approved at the next regularly meeting — this is true of any committee or board — we’re expecting that the minutes for the July 2017 meeting would’ve been approved at the October 2017 meeting. Today is November 3, and those July minutes are still not posted on the Martin County website.
Our Point
The October ANAC meeting was October 26, 2017. October 1 through October 26, 2017, our flight data records indicate we averaged 52 flights per day over western Stuart. On October 27, we had 128 flights over our homes. That’s not a typo — we recorded 128 flights over our residences, the day after flight school noise over residents complaints were addressed as an ANAC agenda item.
Coincidence? We don’t believe in those. Here are the numbers since that ANAC meeting:
- 128 flights, October 27, Friday
- 32 flights, October 28, Saturday
- 34 flights, October 29, Sunday
- 128 flights, October 30, Monday
- 86 flights, October 31, Tuesday (with a 3.5-hour gap in data)
- 152 flights, November 1, Wednesday
- 111 flights, November 2, Thursday
On Wednesday, November 1, we had reports of people who said their ears hurt from the non-stop assault on their hearing. Those 152 flights were recorded between 9:17 a.m. and 9:29 p.m. We know there were more, actually, but we had about an hour and 45 minutes where we had no volunteers to monitor flights. Take note of that date. The annual Stuart Air Show is this weekend, and that number is going to come back to haunt someone. We’re pretty sure that ‘someone’ is the Martin County Commission and Witham Field aka Martin County Airport
We’re not Fans of Math, but …
October 1 through October 26 — the date of the Airport Noise Advisory Committee meeting — we averaged 52 flights per day over our western Stuart homes. Since that date — October 27 through November 2 (the day before the Stuart Air Show — we’ve averaged 96 flights per day over our western Stuart homes. Can you say “retaliatory”?
With 152 flights over our homes in a 12-hour-and-13-minute period, that equates to one plane every 4.8 minutes. Think about that: Every 5 minutes, a plane is flying over our homes. We can’t think of a single good thing to come from this relative to the physical and emotional toll or the environmental impacts.
The only positive aspect would be the money in the County’s and fight school’s pockets.
Please take action against flight school noise impacts in our community and over our homes. As the numbers evidence, it’s only going to get worse, if we don’t speak up now.
Are You Available to Volunteer?
We’re seeking volunteers to record times of flights over our homes on Palm City Road and western Stuart. If you’re available and would like to participate, contact us here.