Bob Halliburton knows the Santa Maria Airport/s flight patterns pretty well.

He experiences them on a frequent basis just by sitting at his home in the Quail Meadows West subdivision in Orcutt. Of course, he made this discovery after he purchased his home.

Under a new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, any person selling property must declare with the Department of Real Estate that the property is located within an airport/s "area of influence."

The Santa Barbara County Association of Government, acting as the Airport Land Use Commission, held a hearing Wednesday night to determine where the Santa Maria Airport/s area of influence is.

Halliburton, like many of the six people in attendance at the hearing, believes the boundary should take into account future growth.

The proposed map extends to Black Road on the west, Battles Road on the north, as far east as Highway 101, and south to Clark Avenue. Planner William Yim said the boundaries were based on the airport/s physical plant, flight patterns and noise measurements.

Currently, anyone purchasing property within a two-mile radius of the airport should be notified. The proposed boundary is smaller.

But Dick Hulme, airport board president, believes the boundary should be "as big as you can get it."

Pointing out that several developments are in the pipeline or beginning construction, Hulme said following the two-mile radius would make a better map.

Hank Schiff, a Creek Ridge Villas resident, said noise from aircraft is "horrendous."

"Today we had three military helicopters overhead and it was vibrating the ground," he said.

Planner Michael Powers said many of the noise complaints come from the south and southeast sides of the airports, areas where the proposed boundaries extend beyond the two-mile radius.

However, some in attendance believe that boundary needs to be extended even further.

There have been similar hearings already in Goleta, the Santa Ynez Valley and Lompoc. Planners will include the public input in their recommendations to the commission/s Board of Directors, which is expected to make a decision in August.

Comments on the proposed area of influence may be sent to the commission at P.O. Box 8208, Goleta CA 93118-8208. For more information, log on to www.sbcag.org.

* Staff writer Tamara Miller can be reached at 739-2216 or by e-mail at tmiller@pulitzer.net.

June 5, 2003