NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Residents in New Smyrna Beach will have to wait two more weeks until commissioners vote to give the go ahead on some changes to New Smyrna Beach’s Municipal Airport’s current Voluntary Noise Abatement Program (VNAP).

The program helps to address any excessive aircraft-related noise that may create a disturbance for nearby residents by working with local flight schools. 

Some residents in the area feel strongly about the noise, which during the afternoons can make certain neighborhoods prone to the sounds of propeller planes taking off and landing.

Most of the activity at the New Smyrna Beach airport is from local flight schools practicing touch and goes throughout the day, or repetitive takeoffs and landings. 

However, not everyone is bothered by the noise. Some saying it’s just the reality of living next to an airport.

The Voluntary Noise Abatement Program would essentially allow flight school students to perform those touch and go maneuvers which are an essential part of their training, safely, while also minimizing the noise for nearby residents. 

Commissioners from the city of New Smyrna Beach decided to pull the item from the agenda because they felt they needed more time to review some of the proposed changes. 

“We don’t think that all six of those items, or eight of them, are all fleshed out, so we want to make sure that we got all the facts straight before we bring it to the public. We want to make sure that it is soup, so to speak,” New Smyrna Beach Mayor Fred Cleveland said.

The Airport Advisory Board also recommends that the airport not change the traffic pattern altitude, but proposes changing the hours of flight operations, calling for “no repetitive flight operations between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.,” continuing the airport’s work with flight schools on noise abatement, making airport noise a topic at all future AAB meetings and adding signage in neighborhoods near the airport.

According to Cleveland, when the airport manager asked the FAA for a mandatory noise abatement program, it was deemed that the airport did not meet the threshold for the volume of operations needed for one to be issued. 

Cleveland says he takes the matter very seriously, adding he and city officials held a workshop with residents to find ways for them to peacefully co-exist with the airport nearby.

It is an item that is also top of mind for District 3 Commissioner Jason McGuirk since the airport is located in his district.

He told Spectrum News 13 some of those changes that residents could expect to see could include starting flights at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. instead of 7 a.m., cancelling flights on Sundays and possibly even on national holidays.

“Because when people are out in their backyards, trying to have a get-together or enjoy the nice weather, what happens is repetitive take offs every 15 seconds drowns out and people can’t really enjoy their backyards or the holidays while they’re home,” McGuirk said.

The city stated the Epic Flight Academy, which is the flight school with the most usage at the New Smyrna Beach’s Municipal Airport, is “receptive” to changing some of its noise abatement rules.

The agenda item has been tabled to two weeks from Tuesday, Nov. 12.

The next city commission meeting is planned for Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 6:30 pm.