"North High Point, N.C., residents examine FedEx cargo hub-related noise issues"

Monday, December 6, 2004

North High Point, N.C., residents examine FedEx cargo hub-related noise
issues
The High Point Enterprise, (NC)


North High Point resident Jim Dobbins intends to attend a meeting Monday
night that he hopes will lead to a better quality of life in years to come
for him and his neighbors.

Dobbins, a 15-year resident of north High Point, will join other area
residents in the auditorium of Southwest High School at 4364 Barrow Road for
a public workshop on the FedEx Corp. cargo hub noise study. The workshop
takes place from 7-8:30 p.m., though the doors will open at 6:30 p.m. so the
public may view exhibits before the meeting begins.

The purpose of the workshop is to brief the community about how the two-year
study will address issues related to the aircraft noise that will be
generated by late-night and early-morning cargo planes.

In 2006, three committees made up of dozens of volunteers and elected
officials will make recommendations to the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority
on noise issues. The airport's governing board, in turn, will submit a
proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration on how the airport intends
to address noise issues, such as buying out or soundproofing homes near
PTIA. Dobbins, a businessman in the furnishings industry, said that the
biggest unknown for him and his neighbors is the impact on their quality of
life from up to 126 daily FedEx cargo hub flights that would land and take
off from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. after the hub opens in five years.

"It's a question of where it's going to take us in terms of the value of the
properties and the homes. It's an unknown everybody is concerned about,"
said Dobbins, who's president of the Weston Shores Homeowners Association.

The area of High Point and Guilford County north of Skeet Club Road and west
of N.C. 68 already has more than 2,800 residents, according to the 2000
census. By 2009, when the hub opens, city of High Point Planning Department
projections estimate that up to 6,500 city and county residents could live
in the area.

North High Point resident Amy Jo Wood said she hopes the noise study process
will encourage airport and FAA officials to look at alternative routes for
cargo planes in and out of PTIA. Having jets take off and land to minimize
the noise impact on neighborhoods could make a difference, she said.

"There are so many people whose sleep is going to be affected," said Wood, a
marketing specialist.

Wood said that she supports the development of the project and expects that
the economic benefits of having FedEx's fifth national cargo hub will ripple
through the Triad.

"I'm excited about the new industry that will be coming here because of
FedEx," she said. "I just hope, with the noise, that the voice of the people
is still worth listening to."


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