NEDERLAND — The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) approved a letter to be sent to Aleta Best, the Regional Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the Northwest Mountain Region division, regarding concerns of increased air traffic noise over Nederland. The drafting of the letter was prompted by recent complaints filed with the Town by local residents, and by a petition which has garnered 102 signatures. 

Nederland residents first presented their case to the BOT during Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items at their July 21 meeting, following up on the petition that was sent to Trustees months before. A combination of in-person and online commenters listed their concerns and complaints about the repeated slew of overhead flyers causing disruptive noise.

“The FAA’s recently implemented low elevation, next-gen flight path from Denver International Airport (DIA) places a disproportionate burden of the vast majority of westbound flights over Town, besides being 60 miles west of the airport,” one resident from the Big Springs neighborhood commented. 

It was also noted that “hundreds” of planes have passed over Nederland, with there being less than five-minute intervals between planes, and that the FAA never informed residents of this major flight path change. 

The “low elevation, next-gen flight path” in question is a reference to the FAA’s Airspace Redesign Project, which focused on implementing Performance Based Navigation procedures and Time Based Flow Management to the Denver Metroplex airspace in order to increase efficiency. 

While the project helped to implement 29 new navigational routes, it also modified up to 15 existing routes used by DIA, Centennial Airport, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, Northern Colorado Regional Airport, Colorado Air and Space Port Airport, Greeley-Weld County Airport, and Vance Brand Municipal Airport.

“When I’m on my deck or back patio I definitely notice it,” another Big Springs resident added during the July 21 meeting.  

A 30-year resident who bought their “dream home” off Lazy Z complained about the consistency of flights impacting his quality of life. “I can see DIA from my house, and I can see the lights lined up, and there are nights I just have to get out of the hot tub because I’m getting angry, and that is the complete opposite of why I have a hot tub.” 

“When I look at the flight tracker, it’s insane,” he added, mentioning how it appears that the majority of DIA’s westbound flights fly over Nederland. 

Mayor Nichole Sterling vowed at that meeting to draft the letter to the FAA, which she had already started working on as a resident, having noticed the noise herself.

“I started to methodically sit outside and I started to hear them over and over again,” she said. 

The final draft of the letter was presented on August 4 and appealed to the FAA that the “frequent aircraft noise, indoor rumbling and vibration,” was causing residents to suffer “disrupted sleep, and interference with outdoor activities,” and has raised concerns about the “possible effects on wildlife, air quality, health, property values, and overall quality of life.”

 “These concerns raise questions that the Town and its residents cannot answer without the FAA’s technical expertise and access to flight data,” the letter added. “We are asking the FAA to help us understand what is occurring, which aircraft and procedures are responsible, whether the impacts are disproportionately concentrated over Nederland, and what reasonable alternatives may be available.”

The five-page request to the FAA asked for specific data regarding the “number of aircraft crossing Nederland by hour, day, month, season, and year,” as well as the altitude at which those aircraft are flying; the aircraft’s origin of flight and departure procedures; and any information regarding an increase in “frequency, concentration, or altitude of overflights” since 2020. 

Additionally, it was requested of the FAA to provide the Town with noise-monitoring analysis, as well as any supplemental environmental reviews or considerations for operational adjustments that the Town should be privy to. 

Sterling’s letter also suggested alternatives for the FAA to consider, all of which were written with the intention of ensuring that air traffic is not diverted to another county or municipality and making it their issue. 

Suggestions include: aircraft reaching higher altitudes before passing over Nederland; adjusting westbound departure procedures; using alternative routes; reducing nighttime and early morning flights; and distributing the air traffic evenly among neighboring communities. 

The Town also asked for material specific to the FAA’s Airspace Redesign Project, in relation to Nederland, Western Boulder County, Eastern Gilpin County, and the entire Peak to Peak region. 

“We understand that the FAA completed an environmental review and public-engagement process before implementing the Denver Metroplex procedures,” the letter reads. “However, Nederland residents report that they were not aware of a proposed concentration of flights over the community or given a meaningful opportunity to understand and comment on the potential local effects.”

According to the FAA, the public engagement process for this project involved public workshops in 2017 and 2019, and was deemed complete in October of 2020. The 2019 Procedure Display Boards shows only four major routes for westbound departures out of DIA. Two of those routes—ZIMMR and COORZ—fly right over Nederland. 

To view this information go to: faa.gov/air_traffic/community_engagement/den 

Sterling’s letter also invited representatives of the FAA Northwest Mountain Region, and of the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center, Denver Terminal Radar Approach Control, and any other “appropriate airspace-procedure and environmental specialists” to a technical meeting with the BOT and Town staff. 

Ultimately, the Town requested a written response from the FAA within 45 days, with that response expected to include the FAA’s proposed action plan to tackle the long list of concerns and requests from the Nederland community. As neighboring communities and counties experience similar woes, prepare similar letters, and consider further action, only time will tell if the FAA will move on any of these issues.  

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 18 at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. 

For more information go to: townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-of-trustees.