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Reports Target MacDill Noise Issues

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By MARK HOLAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 12, 2008

BALLAST POINT - The noisy whoosh of military aircraft gets renewed attention this year in reports and public debate focused on development next to MacDill Air Force Base.

For the first time in 10 years, MacDill is updating aircraft noise data and other land-use compatibility issues in a report aimed at fostering coexistence between the base and surrounding neighborhoods.

The report is expected to be released this spring and could affect proposed changes to the city's growth management plan as amendments move through the Hillsborough Planning Commission and city council review.

Most of the dozen amendments grew out of negotiations with neighborhood leaders last year for a city study of land use near the base. A public meeting on the amendments is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at Ballast Point Elementary School.

"The biggest questions are about noise," Tampa urban planning manager Randy Goers said.

Some 5,700 people live below MacDill's two flight paths over Ballast Point, according to a city estimate based on 2000 Census data.

About 3,400 of those residents, or 60 percent, live in areas with noise levels at or above the threshold considered an annoyance, based on MacDill's 1998 compatibility report.

Nighttime training missions at MacDill caused a flurry of noise complaints from Ballast Point residents in 2007. South Kelly Road resident Michael Waite, who lives below MacDill's southeast flight path, is among the most vocal critics.

Chief among Waite's concerns: The 10-year-old noise map doesn't show decibel readings for the base's northeast flight path over a large swath of the neighborhood.

"The map fails to fully disclose all incompatibility within all flight paths, or real meaningful noise contours, especially in the more northern flight path," Waite wrote last month in an e-mail to neighbors and public officials.

MacDill survived nationwide military base closings in 2005 without land use compatibility becoming an issue, Goers said. MacDill's 1998 compatibility report recommended the base update the noise maps and survey nearby development every two years, but the work was never done.

In written replies to questions from The Tampa Tribune, MacDill officials said "aircraft operations did not vary enough to warrant a new study" in the past 10 years. They wrote that there were too few aircraft operations over the northern flight path to generate a noise analysis.

Jorge Ugarte, president of the Interbay Homeowners Association, and Sally Flynn, president of the Ballast Point Neighborhood Association, said most of their members support MacDill and aren't bothered by the air traffic.

MacDill's day-to-day activity "does not appear to be a significant issue with most homeowners, but not all," Ballast Point Neighborhood Homeowners Alliance leader Gene Wells wrote in a December e-mail to members.

He suggested creating a Web site to inform homeowners about noise in case it becomes a bigger problem.

New planes are being stationed at MacDill, which continues to host transient aircraft, such as the F-16s and F-18s involved in last year's training missions. More than $800 million in construction is under way at the 5,700-acre base.

Waite, a 46-year-old credit card systems contractor, said many residents "are a little afraid to be vocal or say anything negative" about the base, which has a key role in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and is a major force in the Tampa Bay area economy.

"I'm thinking it isn't going to get better; it's going to get worse," Waite said in an interview. "Why are they spending all this tax money on a base that isn't compatible?"

The proposed planning amendments include updating the noise map and requiring new buildings within the base flight paths to have sound-softening features. Goers said the city doesn't have money to reduce noise in existing structures.

Another amendment calls for forming a committee where neighborhood representatives can discuss noise and other concerns about the base with military and city officials.

"Whatever information the base produces, which will be mostly technical, the solutions will come afterward," Goers said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Public meeting on planning amendments related to MacDill Air Force Base

WHEN: 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 22

WHERE: Ballast Point Elementary School, 2802 W. Ballast Point Blvd.

INFORMATION: www.tampa gov.net/dept_community _planning/news_and_events/

Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 835-2102 or mholan@tampatrib.com.

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