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Scotts Valley
October 4, 2025

No recommendation on moving mountain flight path

The Select Committee on South Bay Arrivals, meeting in Palo Alto  last week, on Oct. 20, failed in an attempt to arrive at a consensus set of recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about controversial changes in flight paths and procedures for commercial jets landing at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) from the south.The current route and most previous route pass over portions of Santa Cruz County. The previous flight path crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains just east of the San Lorenzo Valley.The committee includes elected officials from San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties.This document is a first draft discussion document for review and comment by the public and the committee. It represents a first effort attempt to capture the consensus view of committee, and as such, it is subject to review and revision. The committee met Oct. 27, and meets again on Nov. 3, and on Nov.17, in the Palo Alto City Council chamber.In June 2016, the current flight path, designated as SERFR and called “Surfer,” carried an average of 183 aircraft per day, or 30 percent of the arriving aircraft into SFO. This flight path was implemented in early 2015, as the FAA moves to satellite- from ground-based navigation.Because of a barrage of complaints about jet noise, the committee considered proposals to move the arrival procedure to SFO to a similar ground track previously used before last year for 30 years, known as BSR or “Big Sur” at lower altitudes over the San Lorenzo Valley. This design would put the current (since March 2015) SERFR flight path back over the BSR ground track, roughly 3-4 miles to the west of where the path currently reaches the Santa Cruz County coastline near the City of Capitola.“However, it should be noted that even with a ‘return to the BSR ground track,’ aircraft would not actually fly the same conventional procedure as the previous route.”The previous procedure did not use satellite-based navigation.The committee took no position on this controversial recommendation.Approximately 50 percent of the arrivals to SFO from the south that are currently “vectored” – diverted – west of the current flight path for safety reasons. Known as “vectoring,” this can increase ground noise.The committee did reach a consensus that the altitude for all flight procedures/paths into and out of SFO and the "glide slopes" for SFO should be increased as planes descend over the mountains and into the peninsula.It asked the FAA, SFO, and industry users shall meet to set new additional overnight (between 1 and 6 a.m.) noise abatement procedures within the next six months, and ensure that aircraft comply with the obligation to cross over Woodside at 8,000 feet, traffic permitting, especially at night.In response to pleas from some mountain residents to return to previous conditions, to “how they were” before last year, the committee repeated that “the FAA has repeatedly indicated that changes to the San Francisco Bay Area airspace are not reversible.”Because Congress mandated that the FAA use advanced technology to modernize the air transport system, the committee rejected returning to the pre-2015 status quo.The committee concluded that “the FAA’s established noise measurement metrics are inadequate. They do not represent what is being experienced by people on the ground,” and recommended that Congress require the FAA to adopt supplemental metrics for aircraft noise match what is experienced on the ground.The committee also was critical of the process: “The FAA should be coming to Members of Congress and their affected constituencies with proposals for review and comment, not the other way around.”

New Scotts Valley Middle School project takes first steps

Contractors for the Scotts Valley Unified School District this week began assembly of the first of 10 new portable classrooms at the Scotts Valley Middle School.

Council candidate’s contractor license was revoked

Scotts Valley City Councilman Dene Bustichi’s contractor licenses were revoked last year by the state for failing to pay a subcontractor.

Dangerous used needles found in Felton

Used hypodermic needles discarded by drug users continue to be found in streams, along beaches and public places across Santa Cruz County.

FAA studies two jet flight paths

Traffic.

Scotts Valley water rate increase

The median residential bi-monthly water bill in the Scotts Valley Water District would increase 27 percent in December under a five-year rate plan proposed by the Scotts Valley Water District.

New pot-growing ordinance set

The Santa Cruz County medical cannabis cultivation ordinance took one step closer to final approval, as the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to tentatively approve it, pending completion of a full environmental review.

Wind and rain in the mountains

Two storm systems in one weekend in the Central Coast hit hardest in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

School board candidates debate

Seven of eight candidates vying for five seats on the Scotts Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees met on a stage Tuesday, Oct. 18 in their first and only joint campaign appearance, in a question-and-answer forum that focused on the delicate balance between community desires and financial realities.

Postage-free voting

The more than 91,000 voters in Santa Cruz County who have been mailed ballots for the November Presidential Election won’t have to hunt for a postage stamp to return their ballot, because postage is now paid for Santa Cruz County voters.The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors this summer approved a County Clerk/Elections budget with enough money specifically to cover the cost of return postage for vote-by-mail ballots.There are now several options for returning a vote-by-mail ballot.Voters may mail it in the postage-paid envelope. Ballots postmarked no later than Tuesday, Nov. 8 and received by the elections official by the third day after the election will be counted once the voter information is verified. Since Friday after the election this year is a holiday, ballots received by Monday, Nov. 14 that are postmarked on or before Nov. 8 are eligible to be counted, said County Clerk Gail Pellerin.Voters also may drop off mail-in ballots any time of the day or night. One of five 24-hour ballot boxes is in Scotts Valley, at 1 Civic Center Dr., in the Scotts Valley City Hall parking lot.Or, voters may bring their ballots into the County Elections Office during regular business hours.Voters also may return the ballot on Election Day to any polling place in Santa Cruz County 7a.m. to 8 p.m.Pellerin reminded voters they must sign and date the envelope before sealing their ballot inside. The signature on the ballot envelope must compare to the signature on the voter registration card on file at the County Elections Office.The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 8.For more information, contact the County Clerk/Elections Department at 831-454-2060 or go to www.votescount.com.

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