Airport Expansion Raises Concerns Over Noise

This Thursday, county planners voted 4-1 to expand Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, a $84 million project that would build an additional 5,000 feet of runway, add up 21 flights a day and build a new passenger terminal, according to a recent article on Watch Sonoma County.

Although the airport is closest to Windsor, part of the flight path is over Petaluma, raising concerns about noise impacts of planes, especially after hours.

Click on the map on the right for detail

But county planning commissioners said they would push for a voluntary curfew on commercial flights between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. as well as periodic noise monitoring as the number of flights from and to the airport increased. However, federal law prevents local governments from placing time limits on aircraft operations.

The final vote on the project is set for January.

Meanwhile, Sonoma County is continuing talks with Alaska and Frontier Airlines about additional flights. Currently, Alaska Airlines operates five flights a day from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas.

What do you think about the proposed airport expansion? Is it good for Sonoma County business? Or will it impact our quality of life?