Does the Air Force study place part of Perris in these zones?
A buyer looking at a home in south-central Perris hears a C-17 on approach, and the Air Force’s own study gives a direct answer: yes, parts of Perris fall inside its modeled noise contours and runway-end planning zones.
Perris sits directly south of March Air Reserve Base’s Runway 14/32. Most aircraft arrivals and closed patterns occur at that end, according to the study. Perris has more acreage exposed to noise above 60 dB CNEL than any neighboring municipality.
The 60, 65 and 70 dB CNEL contours all cross into the city. The highest expected level inside Perris is 73 dB CNEL.
These findings come from the Air Force Reserve Command’s final 2018 Air Installations Compatible Use Zones study. Known as the AICUZ, it updated the 2005 study after new aircraft, operational changes and new flight tracks. The 452nd Air Mobility Wing commander signed it on November 28, 2017.
Runway 14/32 is 13,302 feet long, with 1,000-foot overruns at both ends. The base’s other runway, Runway 12/30, is 3,061 feet long. The Perris maps focus on the southern end of the longer runway.
What does CNEL mean on the maps?
CNEL adds up the noise energy from all aircraft events during 24 hours and represents an annual average day at a military airfield.
The calculation adds a 10-decibel penalty to each event from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. It adds a five-decibel penalty from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. That means CNEL is a cumulative planning measure, not the sound level of one passing aircraft.
The study’s model used 52,172 annual aircraft operations, including 22,408 closed patterns. Its aircraft inputs included C-17, F-15E, KC-135R and MQ-9 aircraft, along with transient traffic. Those are modeled 2018 operations, not present-day traffic counts.
Figure 4-2 in the AICUZ shows the contours around the base. The lines are modeled 2018 contours, not measurements at a home. A property shown within the 65 dB CNEL contour is inside that modeled band, but the map does not say that a meter at the house would continuously read 65 dB.
Use the map to spot an overlap, then ask planning staff or the Riverside County Airport Land Use Commission to confirm the parcel.
What are the Clear Zone and Accident Potential Zones?
The Clear Zone, APZ I and APZ II are mapped runway-end areas that the AICUZ uses for compatible land-use planning.
Only Perris and Moreno Valley had residential units inside Accident Potential Zones in the study. At the south end of Runway 14/32, the Air Force counted 37 Perris residential units in APZ I and 38 in APZ II. Those numbers describe the mapped inventory, not the condition of any particular home.
Small parts of the Clear Zones extend beyond the base boundary into Perris on the south and Riverside County on the north. Across the off-base Clear Zone and Accident Potential Zones, the study counted 1,837 acres and 477 people using a 2010 census-based estimate.
March ARB also held about 39 avigation clearance easements associated with the Runway 14/32 Clear Zones beyond the base boundary. The study’s text does not identify every parcel covered by those easements.
Figure 5-5 shows the runway-end zones. For another plain-language example, read what an accident potential zone means. March JPA also provides an Avigation Easement Instructions and Application packet on its documents and forms page.
How did Perris zone the affected area?
Perris placed the area inside APZ I, APZ II and the 65 dB-and-higher zone south of the runway in the City of Perris Specific Plan.
In that plan area, commercial and industrial uses are encouraged, with no new residences included. This direction applies to planned land use. It does not mean existing homes are forbidden, and the AICUZ does not say that homes in the mapped areas cannot be sold.
Perris also adopted an Airport Overlay Zone in 2016 through Zoning Code Chapter 19.51. The AICUZ says the city adopted it to comply with the boundaries and policies of the 2014 March ARB/Inland Port Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan. New projects are checked against that plan.
Airport mapping is only one part of checking nearby land use. You can use the address-based steps in buying near Perris warehouses to research other planning questions without assuming the airport overlay answers them.
What does the county airport plan cover?
The March ARB/Inland Port Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan applies its compatibility criteria to future development, not existing land uses.
The Riverside County Airport Land Use Commission expanded the airport influence area into parts of Perris, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Riverside and March JPA land. The state project record for the plan says its compatibility criteria do not apply to existing uses.
The commission also has no jurisdiction over aircraft operations. It reviews whether future land use is compatible with the airport plan. It does not choose flight paths or control the number of operations. When you hear an aircraft and then look at a planning map, keep those two roles separate.
Perris Valley Airport is a different airport east of Goetz Road and south of Ellis Avenue and Case Road. It has its own compatibility plan, which addresses future land uses in that airport’s Airport Influence Area rather than the March ARB zones.
What does the Air Force recommend about disclosure?
The Air Force recommends disclosure steps for property in the mapped areas, but those AICUZ recommendations are not law.
Section 7 asks real estate professionals to follow the section of the Business and Professions Code the study cites, 11010(13)(A), which the study describes as addressing existing and proposed airports within two statute miles. It also recommends disclosing noise impact to prospective buyers of property in areas greater than 60 dB CNEL or inside a Clear Zone or Accident Potential Zone.
For local governments, the AICUZ recommends requiring real estate disclosure within noise contours or Clear Zones and Accident Potential Zones “where allowed.” That qualification is part of the recommendation.
The Air Force recommendations are not the statute. Ask your agent or an attorney how the state disclosure applies to a specific sale. For more context on transaction documents, compare how an airport disclosure works in a California sale with the broader California seller disclosure guide.
How can a buyer or seller check a property?
You can compare the property’s location with the AICUZ maps, note each apparent contour or zone, and ask Perris planning staff or the county Airport Land Use Commission to confirm.
Start with Figure 4-2 for noise and Figure 5-5 for the Clear Zone, APZ I and APZ II. Check those maps separately. A close visual match on a regional map is not a parcel-level determination.
Give planning staff the property address and the map reference. Ask whether the parcel is within the Airport Overlay Zone, the City of Perris Specific Plan area described in the AICUZ, or an Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan boundary. Ask the county Airport Land Use Commission to confirm its boundary as well.
A 2013 state record lists the commission at 4080 Lemon Street, 14th Floor, Riverside, with telephone number (951) 955-0982. Those contact details may have changed, so confirm them before relying on them.
March JPA is a public entity formed in 1993 by Perris, Moreno Valley, Riverside and Riverside County. Perris holds two seats on its eight-member commission. The JPA documents page includes the AICUZ, an avigation easement packet and a Noise Disturbance Form for March Inland Port Airport.
Match the contact or form to your question. A parcel-zone check, an easement inquiry and a noise disturbance report are different requests.
The short version
Yes, the Air Force’s modeled 2018 noise contours and runway-end planning zones extend into Perris south of Runway 14/32.
The study places the 60, 65 and 70 dB CNEL contours inside the city, with a highest expected level of 73 dB CNEL. It also counts 37 Perris residential units in APZ I and 38 in APZ II. These are planning-study findings, not measurements at individual homes.
Perris addressed future land use through its Specific Plan and the Airport Overlay Zone in Chapter 19.51. The county compatibility plan covers future development rather than existing uses. The Air Force’s disclosure language remains a set of recommendations, so ask your agent or an attorney how state disclosure applies to your sale.
For a separate property estimate, open the home value tool.
Common questions
Do the March ARB zones cover all of Perris?
No. The 2018 AICUZ maps show noise contours and runway-end planning zones reaching into the part of Perris south of Runway 14/32.
Are the Perris noise contours measurements taken at homes?
No. They are modeled 2018 CNEL contours based on aircraft operations used in the Air Force study.
How many Perris homes were inside the Accident Potential Zones?
The study counted 37 residential units in APZ I and 38 residential units in APZ II.
Does the county airport plan apply to existing homes?
Its compatibility criteria apply to future development, not existing land uses, according to the state project record.
