WILMINGTON — Over two-and-a-half years into its Part 150 Noise Study, the Wilmington International Airport’s consultant unveiled possible solutions to mitigate aircraft sound experienced by residents. It could cost upward of $1.6 million, but only a handful of people would benefit.
The last phase of the Part 150 Noise Study was presented to the community during a workshop Wednesday evening at Snipes Academy, with approximately a dozen people in attendance. The presentation, by Korry Lewis from Coffman Associates — the consultant hired to conduct the study — shared possible noise mitigation solutions.
Fourteen homes near the northern end of Runway 17, are impacted, located near Old Wrightsboro Road and Blue Clay Road. The study recommended noise mitigation outcomes with sound insulation for homes in the project area, paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration or New Hanover County Airport Authority.
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The study also suggested comprehensive plans to add aviation noise thresholds, updating airport noise exposure maps, and adopting formal project review guidelines for noise compatibility. Also a fair-disclosure agreement is supposed to be given to anyone looking to buy property in the noise exposure zone.
Sixty-five day-night average sound level metric is the typical federal threshold for identifying noise-sensitive properties by FAA standards. In layman’s terms, that’s the equivalent of dishwasher running or a sewing machine.
Lewis said the first part of the study was focused on “diagnosing the problem” but now they’re looking at solutions to mitigate excessive aircraft noise. This will only be available in areas where sound reaches 65 DNL, though it’s not yet approved by federal regulators, nor does it guarantee noise mitigation will happen. The FAA would have to approve and some suggestions, such as adding to a local government’s comprehensive plans, would require City of Wilmington and New Hanover County action separately.
Homeowners Richard Smith and Mellisa Manley, who live in the path of ILM’s runway 17, told Port City Daily they understand an airport is part of public interest and benefit, but the constant aircraft noise poses frustration.
“The airport was actually there before our house was built, but back then, it’s just a little dark strip or just blacktop, and it was just little airplanes — no commercial aircraft,” Smith said.
He added noise has increased in recent years, especially during the pandemic, with Manley saying sometimes the noise was so bad she’d get in her car and leave.
Though the airlines and commercial airways were shuttered in spring of 2020, due to Covid-19, military aircraft used ILM for hot fueling. Thus it allowed jets to land without shutting off the engines, before refueling and taking off again. In July 2020, Modern Aviation amended its contract to allow military hot fueling, resulting in more use of ILM airfields and increased resident complaints.
The airport began tracking grievances in 2021 and found between March and December it received 133 noise complaints in regards to the military jets. In all of 2022, it received a total of 25 complaints after a military noise-abatement agreement took effect.
The voluntary study officially began in January 2024, with the goal of identifying where elevated decibels were happening and how to address them. ILM received a $915,000 grant from the FAA and contributed $102,000 of its own money to conduct the study.
The study does include military aircrafts in its noise complaint data. However, the study focuses on solutions for commercial places as military aircrafts would not be forced to adhere to any new mitigation techniques as they are exempt from FAA restrictions.
ILM accepts money from the FAA and a condition is that the airport must allow military jets to use its runways and taxiways. But military pilots do not have to follow the FAA’s noise restrictions or a 1,000-foot height requirement.
“It rattles the whole house,” Manley said when discussing military aircraft flying over her property. “If you’re standing in the yard, it’ll rattle your insides.”
She added she’d like to see no more military flights but acknowledged their need to train.
Manley said she’s concerned the aircraft noise could result in a loss of value on her home, should she someday put it on the market.
Lewis shared at Wednesday night’s workshop that one downside to the solution results was homes outside the 65 DNL zone may still be seriously impacted, even though these homes do not qualify for the mitigation framework.
“We’ve clearly heard from residents downtown, historic areas and other parts of the community that they are experiencing the effects of this,” Lewis said.
These areas do not meet the FAA 65 DNL metric, meaning while the sound may be a nuisance, enforceable mitigation is not applicable.
If all solutions are implemented, the study projected a total cost of $1,630,000. The Federal Aviation Administration would be estimated to cover 90% at $1,467,000. The New Hanover County Airport Authority — the body that oversees ILM — would cover 10% of the project costs, at $163,000.
Part of the noise mitigation involves a voluntary $960,000 sound insulation for the 14 dwelling units. Coffman consultant Lewis estimated during the presentation insulation would cost $50,000 to $75,000 per home.
If homeowners decided to go this route, Lewis believes the timeframe for insulation would be 2028. The sound insulation of the homes would not be automatic and would require pre-testing before approval.
The New Hanover County Airport Authority would determine if sound insulation would be an effective form of noise mitigation for the dwelling unit. The organization would use FAA guidelines for deciding if a home is eligible for insulation. Guidelines state the home must be within the airport’s existing or future 65 DNL contour and must have an interior noise level of 45 DNL or greater with windows closed.
Lewis said for this testing professionals would emit sound outside and a microphone would be put inside the home to measure noise levels.
Homeowners would only experience the benefit of the insulation when their doors and windows are fully closed. Improvements include extra roof insulation, new windows and possibly new walls.
Additionally, the 14 homes within the 65 DNL zone could voluntarily give up part of their property for an aviation easement — meaning while the resident still owns the land, they forego legal rights to it and allow the airport to generate noise over the property. The easements would likely be purchased by the NHC Airport Association — using FAA funding — in 2028 and cost a total of $70,000 for all 14 homes.
Both the easements and insulation were recommended by Coffman Associates. Other measures of mitigation include amending city and county comprehensive plans to add aviation noise thresholds, or outlining a specific noise standard into city and county comprehensive plan policy — this guides future land use decisions. The threshold would likely be 65 DNL in accordance with FAA guidelines.
Noise contours — or map lines that connect areas with the same DNL — would also be incorporated into city and county comprehensive plan maps. By making the amendments, future development decisions would be able to guide future development decisions and avoid excessive noise from aircrafts. The City of Wilmington and New Hanover County would be in charge of these changes, which the study says are likely to occur in 2036 during the next comprehensive plan update.
The city and county can also adopt formal project review guidelines for noise compatibility — which the study says is likely happening in 2028.
The fair disclosure policy for properties within the 65 DNL zone would include notifying home buyers that the property is in a noise affected area.
Additionally, while the city and county already have general project review checklists, should a new formal airport-noise compatibility project-review guidelines policy be implemented to formalize noise criteria. The policy would discourage any rezoning or conditional use of noise-sensitive spaces — like schools and places of worship — which the study indicated could happen as soon as 2028. Formalizing the policy may take up to three years to complete.
The study drafts identify New Hanover County and the City of Wilmington’s operating budgets as possible funding outlets for other comprehensive plan updates.
Smith and Manley said they viewed the Part 150 plan as information about “possible steps” for noise mitigation but not a document formalizing what will actually be done.
Also, certain chapter drafts of the study are denoted as not meriting further consideration, with some solutions rejected by Coffman Associates. These include mitigation efforts to add new runways and implement runway extensions, use midfield departures, require maximum climb departures and implement noise based landing fees.
New runways would come at too high of a cost, while midfield departures would pose a safety risk because of the reduced runway size and maximum climb departures would increase noise closest to the airport near runways six and 17. Also, noise based landing fees could result in legal challenges.
Now that the study is complete, next steps include a public hearing scheduled for December and then submitting the report to the FAA in January of 2027. Then, it could take the organization up to 180 days for review. Implementing any approved changes would take longer.
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