The Lake Arrowhead Municipal Advisory Council will host a community meeting with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials at 6 p.m. on Jan. 25 at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa.
FAA Regional Administrator Dennis Roberts will make a presentation about the changes the agency made around Lake Arrowhead as part of the Southern California Metroplex project, and a potential solution to local community concerns about overflights while maintaining the project’s enhanced airspace safety and efficiency benefits. The SoCal Metroplex Project replaced dozens of conventional air routes with ones based on satellite navigation. One of the new routes takes planes directly over the Lake Arrowhead communities, which are more than 5,000 feet above sea level.
“I have received numerous emails and calls from residents upset about how the flight path change has disrupted their community,” said Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford, who represents the Lake Arrowhead area on the Board of Supervisors. “Like many in the community, I was disappointed in how the agency handled the public notices for the flight path changes. However, I appreciate that the FAA is making this effort to speak to residents.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Kamala Harris and Congressman Paul Cook helped Supervisor Rutherford and the MAC arrange the meeting with FAA officials. Representatives from the federal officials’ offices are scheduled to attend the Jan. 25 community meeting.
"Since this issue was brought to my attention, I’ve worked closely with Supervisor Rutherford and my colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure the FAA hears the community’s voice,” Cook said. “This meeting will provide mountain residents with the opportunity they should have had months ago: to hear from FAA officials about flight pattern changes that affected their community. I hope the FAA has heard the outcry from the residents over the past nine months and will be ready to offer a real solution.”
“Our federal representatives have been engaged on this issue from the beginning, and I appreciate their support and help in organizing the meeting,” Rutherford said. “We have been in talks with the FAA about ways to reduce the impact the flight path change has had on Lake Arrowhead, and I am hopeful they will announce some positive changes at the meeting.”