Dozens of residents packed a public meeting on Thursday to question a new flight restriction over Mar-a-Lago that has prompted Palm Beach International Airport to establish flight paths over their homes.
The change is diverting air traffic northeast over historically quiet neighborhoods in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, where residents are complaining of intolerable jet noise and fumes from planes that fly at low altitude from early-morning hours until late at night.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, year-round flight restriction over Mar-a-Lago on October 20, in response to heightened security concerns from the U.S. Secret Service, officials have said.
The no-fly zone extends a radius of one nautical mile over President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and is in effect even when Trump is not in residence – a fact that many residents said makes no sense to them.
Palm Beach resident Nevin Bauman was among the residents and officials who addressed the Palm Beach County Citizens’ Committee on Airport Noise at its meeting Thursday November 6.
Bauman said he is considering moving away from the Australian Avenue home where he has lived for 40 years.
Bauman said his family is forced to endure intolerable noise from low-altitude aircraft starting before 6 a.m. and lasting until nearly midnight. He also expressed concern about the long-term health impacts from frequent exposure to air pollution from the planes.
He questioned the need for the Mar-a-Lago flight restriction during periods when Trump is not in town.
“I get that we have to protect him – he’s our president,” Bauman said. “But nobody has been able to explain with any sort of clarity what the threat is when he’s not in residence.”
According to an FAA notice, the flight restriction over Mar-a-Lago will remain in effect at least until October 20, 2026.
Raphael Clemente, a resident of West Palm Beach’s Flamingo Park neighborhood, said he intentionally bought a house that was not below a flight path so he would not have to endure the noise. That was nearly 10 years ago.
Now he is counting as many as 14 flights over his house in a single hour. He said the aircraft are so noisy that he can’t hear his television set, or hold a normal conversation, inside his home if the windows are open.
“The new change is dramatic and extreme,” Clemente said. “I don’t understand what it is addressing whenever our president is not at home.”
Palm Beach Town Manager Kirk Blouin said town officials are hearing “substantial” complaints from residents living under the new flight paths, mainly about a diminished quality of life due to noise pollution.
“People are claiming that they are having trouble sleeping at times and that they cannot enjoy the outside of their home because of the new flight paths that have been established,” Blouin said.
He said Palm Beach residents understand restricting flights over Mar-a-Lago when Trump is in town, but not when he’s away.
Palm Beach Mayor Danielle Moore on October 24 sent a formal complaint to the Federal Aviation Administration in which she said the restrictions have “resulted in significant and measurable disruption to our community.”
Blouin said Palm Beach is attempting to determine precisely which agency originated the new flight restriction so it can begin a dialogue about why. So far it has been frustrated in that effort.
“We’re just looking for answers – some transparency as to who made the decision and why,” Blouin said. “The town would like to establish some communication with the decision makers.”
Greg Weiss, the Palm Beach County Commissioner representing District 2, and a resident of Flamingo Park, voiced similar frustration.
“This has been foisted upon us without explanation,” Weiss said.
Weiss said he, Mayor Danielle Moore, and U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel have requested meetings with federal officials “and have been told the officials can’t meet because of the government shutdown.”
The Palm Beach County Citizens’ Committee on Airport Noise is an advisory panel made up of 10 volunteer members appointed by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners.
Committee Chairwoman Nancy Pullum said committee members share the residents’ anxiety.
“This action to change these flight paths took everyone quite by surprise,” Pullum said. “Nobody knew it was coming and there was no public input.”
There are two Palm Beach residents on the Citizens’ Committee on Airport Noise: Lew Crampton, who is a member of the Town Council, and Martin Klein, who is chairman of the town’s Code Enforcement Board.
Crampton suggested “formal and informal” discussions be held to focus on allowing commercial flights to fly over Mar-a-Lago when Trump is not in residence.
Crampton also said that, if the new flight restriction becomes a permanent policy, that would trigger a legal requirement for an environmental impact statement that would include examining alternative solutions.
“We’ve got to do the best we can to fight back,” Crampton said.
See the full meeting HERE
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