Board suggests rules for balloon company
By Cara Rank, Jackson, Hole, Wyo.
October 30, 2009
A west bank hot-air-balloon operation should be allowed four noise violations or unauthorized landings before the county planning department reviews the operation’s permit, planners say.
The recommendation came out of the Teton County Planning Commission’s review of Wyoming Balloon Co.’s conditional-use permit. Planners voted to recommend that the operation continue but warned the owner that noise violations or unauthorized landings could deflate the balloon operation. They also want the owner, Andy Breffeilh, to document unauthorized landings and notify the county of when those occur.
A noise violation would occur if the balloon’s burner exceeds 55 decibels in rural areas or 65 decibels in the resort district. An unauthorized landing is anywhere outside the operation’s permit.
The matter came forward after Wyoming Balloon Co. asked to amend its conditional-use permit, first issued in 1996, to change the boundaries of the permitted launching and landing areas and add launch sites.
The Wyoming Balloon Co. operates on about 2,000 acres on Snake River Ranch property and the state school lands west of Moose-Wilson Road. The amendment would add about 2,000 acres to the balloons’ flight path to include lands north of Teton Village and lands east of Highway 390.
Wyoming Balloon Co. said expanding the permit area would give pilots more places to land and would reduce the need to make emergency landings on private property.
The Teton County Board of Commissioners will make the final decision on the company’s application.
Neighbors said balloons have been intrusive and made unauthorized landings on private property. They’ve also said the balloons are too noisy.
Jackson Montgomery, who lives nearby in Lake Creek Acres, recalled one morning during which a balloon landed in her backyard.
“We just feel that is too close,” she said. “We don’t want to hurt the balloon business, but we also feel we live in a residential area. We would like to be able to have peace and quiet.”
Planning staff and planning commissioners are forwarding the application to county commissioners with five conditions.
Those would allow the company to have only four balloons in the air at any one time, with a maximum of six flights per day. From May through October, the applicant would be limited to flying three hours after sunrise and three hours before sunset. During the winter months, the applicant would be allowed to fly any time during daylight hours.
Between Nov. 1 and April 15, flights over land in Teton County’s natural resources overlay, which affords extra protections for environmentally sensitive areas, would be prohibited.
When flying over residential developments, the operator also would be restricted to a minimum elevation of 500 feet above the ground, though the condition would not apply when balloons are landing. When hovering below 500 feet, balloons would have to maintain a distance of 500 feet from private residences not located in the permit area.
