Flying Site Case Study #21
The Matanuska Susitna Borough (MSB) comprises roughly 24,700 square miles and contains approximately 10% of the population of Alaska. Anchorage is within the MSB area.
The new law restricts noise levels created by certain sources- such as model aircraft engines- to 3-5 dB above ambient noise levels measured at the affected property line.
The mayor had vetoed the measure at a prior meeting, but the MSB Assembly was getting ready to have an override vote.
ARCS and the AMA mounted an informational campaign to educate the assembly members regarding the benefits of model aviation, both to individuals and to communities. At the override hearing, many modelers stood to decry the new ordinance and to defend their recreational activity.
The veto was overridden; however, because of the significant input from the modelers at the hearing (more than an hour of comments), the assembly asked that a committee be formed to try to come to an agreement whereby the modelers would indeed be able to continue their flying activities.
Instead of the flat denial and a loss of flying activities, we got some "extra innings." Three modelers wi ll be part of the six person committee. In retrospect, Tom Simes, president of the ARCS pointed to two learning points they took from the, events leading to the override.
First, the initial ordinance revision had been advertised in local newspapers as required by law. The sound ordinance's impact on modelers had been missed. The initial ordinance had been voted on without any input from us! We need to skim public notices to see whether or not they have an impact on us.
Second, Tom was told that rather than offering a series of comments praising the benefits of model aviation and describing the burdensome nature of the new ordinance, we should have approached the assembly with a workable alternative plan.
By attending the meeting with nothing other than passionate comments, we left the assembly members with nothing more than an up or down choice.