WEBSITE FOR: Community Action Airplane Noise Sonoma County (CAANSC)

THIS PAGE: CAANSC -- SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS AND SUPPORTING INFORMATION
• ACTION: WHEN WRITING LETTERS AND TALKING TO OTHERS, HERE ARE SOME KEY POINTS YOU MIGHT WISH TO MAKE.

SUGGESTED KEY TALKING POINTS

 1) Object to the new stream of commercial jet planes flying LOW and LOUD over our previously-quiet rural homes.

2) Object to the change in routing planes to the new RREHD departure route (said "redhead"), and with LOWER flights, which is what we've been told is the cause of this change. 


The RREHD route is the recently-created route (aka jet freeway) that has brought a steady stream of planes over West County. People reporting new impacts are in Graton, Forestville, Sebastopol, Occidental, etc. They have not provided an official exact map of this route. It appears to have branches impacting both Graton and Forestville.

And community members have created maps of the RREHD route and two routes in the Cignus Approaches proposal that would also go over Occidental. (See links to those maps below.)
It's still useful for us to ask that officials to create official maps like this!

3) Object that this change was made without even notifying the people living under the new noise pathway, let alone including us in the decision-making. Thus our lives were changed drastically without our consent. Imagine suddenly getting a new freeway by your quiet rural house without having a say! (Even the Sonoma County Airport wasn't informed, and only learned about it after complaints skyrocketed! We're even getting different information about when the new route started! It appears to be Jan. or Feb. 2024.)

4) Share a few powerful sentences about how it's impacting you and your life (for example, repeatedly interrupting peace and quiet, conversations, relaxation, concentration, events, and gatherings; harming health, sleep, property values, etc.);


5) Emphasize that there are alternate routes that can be used plus the option of higher elevations. Complaints to the airport skyrocketed after this change. Planes could be directed to the prior routes (e.g. Charlie8), which did not have this level of complaints and residents knew about any existing noise when they moved there.
 And/or planes could go back to their higher elevations. And/or they could be directed over already-noisy areas.

See the map below for one community member's evaluation of the location and heights. This should've been done officially!

6) Encourage them to care about the lives of the people that these changes have harmed.

7) Possible ending, something like -- “I ask that you please use your authority and persuasion to help us get back our quality of life from this intrusion.”

ADDED TALKING POINTS FOR WRITING FEDERAL OFFICIALS
KEY INFORMATION: Cignus is a consulting group that had previously been hired by the Airport to create new Approach routes to the airport (the Approach Feasibility Study). We've sought to add to their contract that they address this RREHD Departure route. The value of working through this company is that it's one of only six in the country officially authorized to create new routes that meet the FAA specifications. Having them propose routes greatly increases the odds that the FAA will accept it, and shortens the timeline, although the FAA has the ultimate decision-making power.

1) Encourage our Federal Congresspeople to strongly encourage the FAA to proactively and quickly address our concerns. That might include accepting Cignus/Sonoma County Airport proposed route changes, coming in the future, if they indeed address our issues above.

2) Encourage the FAA Federal Congresspeople to proactively and quickly address our concerns. That might include accepting the Cignus/Sonoma County Airport proposed route changes, coming in the future, if they indeed address our issues above.

To find your representatives, and other actions we suggest, see https://www.healthyworld.org/CAANSC-SuggestedKeyActions
ADDED TALKING POINTS FOR WRITING LOCAL LEADERS
KEY INFORMATION: Cignus is a consulting group that had previously been hired by the Airport to create new Approach routes to the airport (the Approach Feasibility Study). We've sought to add to their contract that they address this RREHD Departure route. The value of working through this company is that it's one of only six in the country officially authorized to create new routes that meet the FAA specifications. Having them propose routes greatly increases the odds that the FAA will accept it, and shortens the timeline, although the FAA has the ultimate decision-making power.

 1) Thank the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors for authorizing  the airport to retain Cignus (consultants) to look at option for departures and propose them to the FAA. This was one of the actions we suggested, and citizens were calling for. Thank you also to everyone who took action on this.
This is a big step forward -- and will still take time to happen.

More information is here:
https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7451369&GUID=44ED4DB2-ECC4-4CC3-B5A7-9FF04725EF80&Options=&Search=
SONOMA COUNTY - File #: 2025-0522

2) IMPORTANT: We still need to watchdog this process, to be sure that our concerns are actually addressed, and encourage others to do the same. The prior report by the consultant (Cignus) actually increased flights over West County.

The current aspects to watch and respond to:
a) Our objection is to the new January 2024 RREHD Departure route over our homes. This created ongoing LOUD plane noise route where there wasn't one before! We want Cignus to propose an option that eliminates that impact. One option is to go back to the prior and higher Charlie8 route, which didn't have anywhere near this level of complaints, and was known to those residents. 

b) Express concern that airport consultant Cignus' new proposed changes in Approach routes could also likely bring new airplane noise over our homes in West County. 

c) Express concern that Cignus' workshop information didn't give adequate information on the location of these new proposed Approach routes. For instance, the maps at the workshops didn't show what towns or roads they go over, or give altitude. Thus we can't evaluate the potential impacts on our lives on the ground. (And I think we have to assume that this will bring even more airplane noise into our lives, until they prove otherwise.)

NOTE: Also, encourage our Federal Congresspeople to push the FAA to accept our suggested changes. To find your representatives, and other actions we suggest, see https://www.healthyworld.org/CAANSC-SuggestedKeyActions

SEE added local information, media, and government action at https://www.healthyworld.org/CAANSCAddedLocalInfo.html

ADDED INFORMATION

1) INFORMATION ON AIRPORT'S CIGNUS STUDYwww.stsgoodneighbor.com/study.

2) TWO COMMUNITY-CREATED MAPS
So that you can see what specific areas on the ground are and could be impacted.

Map of the recently-created airplane route over Graton to Occidental (RREHD), which was started about Jan. 2024 - and a map of the prior route
From Sebastopol Times article. Images by Sandy DeVries-Troxel.

Map of the recently-created RREHD departure route and Cignus Proposed Approaches 14 + 23
Image created by community member.

3) See media coverage of our concerns, which includes useful information, at
https://www.healthyworld.org/CAANSCAddedLocalInfo.html

* FOR MORE ACTIONS, including who to write to and how to get on our email list, see the CAANSC main page, www.healthyworld.org/CAANSC.html
Bookmark it and share it with others!


And please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on this process! (My email is: CAANSC [at] healthyworld.org.)

Best - Patricia

This entire website is (c) Patricia Dines, 1998-2025. All rights reserved.
Page last updated 7/18/2025.
https://www.healthyworld.org/CAANSC-SuggestedTalkingPoints.html