The Reset Button

Last week’s vote by the East Hampton Town Board, approving a plan to temporarily close East Hampton Airport at the end of February, then open it three days later as a town-owned private facility, offers the rarest of things in municipal government: a chance to hit the reset button.

Simply put, the airport’s day-to-day operation had grown, over the years, faster than the town could have anticipated. And even if it knew that helicopter travel from New York City would become a popular option for visits to South Fork destinations, it could do little to address the problems it brought.

That’s because, as a public airport, the Federal Aviation Administration had the final word on most measures to manage the traffic in a way to limit the noise for residents who found themselves in the flight path. That included restrictions on the number of flights, and on the paths they take coming in and leaving.

As a new facility no longer considered a public airport, it can reopen in early March with something of a clean slate. Town officials now face a new challenge: They must establish rules for the “private use” airport. So they have to write them, and be prepared to manage the fallout.

That there are voices on both sides decrying the decision — those who want the airport closed permanently are livid, and pilots are worried that a temporary closure could invite too many new restrictions — suggests it’s exactly the right compromise, solidly between the extremes. But with a new facility and new rules to draft, these are two groups that must be part of the conversation going forward. After years of trench warfare, it will be tricky to bring all sides to the table for a constructive discussion of the future.

In reality, though, the reset isn’t a solution in and of itself. For the time being, it takes the idea of permanent closure off the table — if it ever truly was on it — but a system requiring pilots to have prior permission before landing at East Hampton Airport means the town now has more power than ever to manage the day-to-day operations. That requires a clear vision of what success looks like. How many helicopters or jets is too many? Whose measurement shall the town use?

And the stakes are high, for the whole region: Any move to limit traffic could push troublesome aircraft to other landing spots in Montauk, Southampton Village or Westhampton Beach. And with control comes the potential for instability, with new administrations at Town Hall revising rules every few years, leaving all sides to adapt to whipsaw changes.

The East Hampton Airport dispute is hardly resolved — all of the biggest questions remain. But the town’s creative solution figuratively strips the facility back to the studs, and allows a fresh start. The last few years can be a cautionary tale. But a success story is yet to be written.