"We're thrilled to welcome Breeze Airways to Redmond starting March 13, 2026," said Airport Director Zachary Bass, announcing the new low-cost carrier that would fill the gap left by Avelo's exit from the West Coast market. It was good news for the region and Bass had reason to sound pleased. But earlier this year, a quieter document tied to that same runway had already redrawn a boundary that matters more to some Redmond buyers than the flight schedule ever will.
That boundary is the airport's 55 DNL noise contour and the Airport Safety Combining Zone that surrounds it. Deschutes County updated both in 2024, and the update pulled roughly 125 additional properties into a zone that carries real land-use consequences. If you're comparing Redmond neighborhoods on price per square foot, this is the detail that price per square foot won't show you.
A Boundary That Grew With the Runway
Redmond's airport master plan was last formally updated in 2018. In 2023, the City of Redmond applied to Deschutes County for a text amendment updating the runway and approach descriptions tied to that plan, including a longer primary runway and a future parallel runway. Changing the runway geometry changes the "imaginary surfaces" that define approach zones, conical surfaces, runway protection zones, and the 55 DNL noise contour boundary around them. A hearings officer reviewed the application in November 2023, the county's Board of Commissioners held two public hearings in early 2024, and the amendment became effective on September 24, 2024.
The practical result: the county's Airport Safety Combining Zone, which now totals about 1,934 acres around Roberts Field, moved to reflect the new runway plan. The county's own case file for the amendment states that it affected approximately 125 properties newly included in the adjusted zone and noise contour boundary.
That number is worth sitting with. These aren't parcels that changed hands or changed use. They're properties where the map moved around them, and with it, a set of building and mitigation requirements that didn't apply before.
Two Different Lines, and They Aren't the Same
Here's where it gets easy to misread. The Federal Aviation Administration's guideline for residential compliance with aircraft noise is an average of 65 decibels over 24 hours, a threshold the Redmond Airport publishes on its own noise abatement page. That's the number most people think of when they picture an "acceptable" noise level.
The county's zoning trigger is not that number. It's the 55 DNL contour, a lower and more conservative threshold used specifically to control what gets built where. Under county code, any noise-sensitive use, meaning most residential construction, built within that 55 DNL boundary needs to provide the county with proof of noise mitigation before it proceeds. A property can sit comfortably under the FAA's habitability guideline and still fall inside the county's construction-review line. Those are two different questions with two different answers, and only one of them shows up if you're just checking whether a home "meets federal noise standards."
The Traffic Under the Line Isn't Standing Still
The boundary was redrawn to account for a longer runway and a planned second one, which means it was drawn with growth in mind. That growth is now visible. Roberts Field carried more than 1.1 million passengers in 2024 across 30 daily departures on five carriers: American, Alaska, Breeze, Delta, and United. Breeze's arrival in March 2026 restored the Burbank route Avelo had dropped and added new nonstop service to Las Vegas plus a BreezeThru connection through Provo to Salt Lake City, all on Airbus A220 aircraft.
None of this means the noise contour will move again next year. But it means the assumptions baked into the current map, more runway capacity and more flights using it, are the assumptions playing out in real time. A boundary drawn around projected growth is worth rechecking as that growth arrives, not treating as a fixed line from a plan filed years ago.
What This Means If You're Comparing Neighborhoods
Redmond's newer, more affordable growth corridors, including areas like North Redmond and Juniper Crossing, sit closer to Roberts Field than long-established neighborhoods elsewhere in town, including areas like SE Redmond. That doesn't automatically place any specific address inside the Airport Safety Combining Zone. It does mean that land near the airport, particularly newer construction on Redmond's edges, is exactly the kind of parcel worth checking against the current map before you assume a lower price reflects only age or finish level.
| If a parcel is inside the 55 DNL / AS Combining Zone | If it's outside |
|---|---|
| New construction or major remodels may need proof of noise mitigation submitted to the county before permits proceed | Standard permitting applies without the added mitigation step |
| A recorded noise disclosure applies to the property | No airport-specific recorded disclosure applies |
| Land use compatibility and structure height are reviewed against the AS Combining Zone standards | Standard zoning review applies |
Before writing an offer on land near the airport, three questions are worth asking directly:
- Does the current recorded noise disclosure or contour map, filed with the County Recorder's Office, include this parcel?
- Has this property already been reviewed against the 2024 Airport Safety Combining Zone boundary, or against the older 2018 map?
- If you're planning new construction or a significant addition, has any required noise mitigation proof already been submitted, or will it be your responsibility?
Your title company can pull the recorded documents for a specific parcel, and the city's planning division can confirm current zone status. Neither step takes long, and both answer a question that a listing sheet simply doesn't ask.
The Actual Takeaway
Two Redmond homes can sit at the same price, in comparable square footage, and still carry different obligations depending on which side of a boundary that moved in September 2024 they happen to fall on. That's not a story about one part of town being "worse" than another. It's a reminder that the map underneath a growing airport is not static, and the growth that redrew it in 2024 is the same growth now landing new routes in 2026.
If you're weighing land or new construction anywhere near Roberts Field, Heather Osgood can help you check the current zone status for a specific parcel before you write an offer, not after. Let's Connect.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Directly
Does this only affect new construction, or existing homes too? The mitigation requirement applies to noise-sensitive construction, so it's most relevant if you're building new or planning a major addition. Existing homes aren't required to retrofit simply because the boundary moved, but the recorded disclosure still applies to the property and is worth reviewing regardless of your plans.
Is the county's noise line the same as the FAA's noise guideline? No. The FAA's residential compliance guideline is 65 decibels averaged over 24 hours. The county's Airport Safety Combining Zone uses the lower 55 DNL contour specifically to control land use and construction, which is why a property can meet one standard and still fall inside the other's review zone.
Where do I actually find this information for a specific address? The recorded noise disclosure and contour map is filed with the Deschutes County Recorder's Office, and the current boundary is available through the city's planning division. A title company can also pull the relevant recorded documents as part of a standard title search.
