The Clarkdale Town Council unanimously approved a resolution on Dec. 10 demanding that the Cottonwood City Council take action to address complaints by Clarkdale residents regarding flight training at the Cottonwood Airport.
The resolution argued that the quality of life of Clarkdale residents is being impaired by the frequency of flight training at the Cottonwood Airport and that in 2018, representatives from the airport informed the council that “they were considering changing the turning altitude from 500 [above ground level] to 750 AGL. The Clarkdale Town Council vehemently objected to such change as this would have training flights turn over Clarkdale versus over Cottonwood,” according to the resolution.
The airport later “changed the turning altitude to 1,000 AGL without notifying or gaining consent from the Town of Clarkdale,” the resolution argued.
The resolution asserted that the Cottonwood airport’s traffic pattern, which requires flights take off to the north, exposes Clarkdale to additional noise and forces aircraft to take off with tailwinds, while requiring southerly departures would shift the noise away from Clarkdale and allow aircraft to take off into the wind.
The resolution claimed that flight operations at the Cottonwood airport have tripled due largely to increased flight training by Prescott-based Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University, increasing from 18,000 flights in 2018 to over 50,000 in 2024, and that the airport’s noise abatement recommendations are not followed by flight schools.
The resolution asked that the Cottonwood City Council reestablish southerly departures at the airport, request that the flight training schools follow the noise abatement practices and request that the Federal Aviation Administration conduct a Part 150 Noise Study. If no funding is available for the noise study, the resolution requested that the city of Cottonwood fund this study.
Cottonwood has not so far conducted a noise study to measure the effects of airport noise on Clarkdale residents.
The noise abatement practices already in place include asking operators to avoid repetitive flight training between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. on weekends and holidays, and to avoid having more than four aircraft conducting flight training in the traffic pattern at any time.
Councilwoman Marney Babbitt-Pierce thanked the Cottonwood Airport Commission members and expressed appreciation to them for keeping Clarkdale updated each month. Vice Mayor Debbie Hunseder said that five new members on the Cottonwood City Council signaled a new beginning for this issue and that the resolution would be a step forward.
“I’m hopeful that they’ll be very receptive and that we can indeed work together and get some of these things changed so that we can have some relief within our town and be able to move forward,” Hunseder said.
Councilwoman Lisa O’Neill agreed that she expected the new relationship with the new council will be more receptive.
“If we work together, perhaps we can see something happen,” said O’Neill.
“This is not something Clarkdale can do, but it is something Clarkdale can help do.”
Clarkdale Mayor RobynPrud’homme-Bauer said that she had requested a meeting with the FAA but had not received a response and will be elevating her request.
“I do feel very hopeful that this is the start of a good conversation with them [Cottonwood City Council] and working partnership,” said Prud’homme-Bauer. “We can solve some of these issues. They’re very concrete in this resolution.”
“It crushes me to hear that people are leaving,” Prud’homme-Bauer continued. “It crushes me to hear that a small business is not going to get started in Clarkdale. It just crushes me. We are trying.”
“Building support between our two communities is essential to get us to get something to happen,” Prud’homme-Bauer said.
“We’re caught in the crosshairs. It’s not our airport. That’s the hardest part. We can’t make decisions for them but we can work with them, help them hopefully to make decisions that help not just Clarkdale, but help Cottonwood … and other parts of the Verde Valley that are also affected by this, because we’re not the only ones.”
Town Manager Susan Guthrie suggested amending the resolution to request that Cottonwood reconvene the noise working group.
