The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
After runway win, what’s next for Tweed?
Appeal still up in the air as opposition remains
NEWHAVEN — Don’t look for the steamrollers to move in anytime soon, despite a federal appeals court’s decision last week in favor of Tweed New Haven Regional Airport’s bid to overturn a state statute limiting its runway length.
Whether or not the state appeals the decision, the airport and city still have much work to do if they ever hope to expand Tweed’s 5,600foot main runway — including a demanding regulatory process — people on both sides say.
Two of the most powerful members of the General Assembly, state Senate
“The governor feels very strongly that we need to leverage a regional airport in south central Connecticut.” Colleen Flanagan Johnson, Gov. Ned Lamont’s senior adviser
President Pro Tempo re Martin Looney, D New Haven, and Senate Minority Leader Leonard Fasano, R North Haven—both who also happen to live and/ or own property in the neighborhood— continue to call for state Attorney General William Tong to appeal the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
New Haven Mayor Toni N. Harp said she called Tong earlier thisweek to urge him not to appeal.
The 2nd Circuit, in a unanimous opinion, ruled that the state statute limiting the length of the runway is preempted and superceded by federal law. The ruling, assuming the state does not appeal it, clears theway for Tweed to pave portions of its existing, unpaved runway safety areas to increase the effective length of the runway for takeoff.
It also will make Tweed a more attractive airport to draw additional air service, supporters have said.
Gov. Ned Lamont said in an
Associated Press story after thedecision tha the believed Tong should not pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court, and that expansion at Tweed is important to the state economy.
But a top aide suggested Friday that Igor Sikorsky Memorial Airport, the Bridge port owned municipal airport in Stratford— which currently has no commercial service at all— could serve that purpose, aswell.
“The governor feels very strongly thatwe need to leverage a regional airport in south central Connecticut,” Colleen Flanagan Johnson, Lamont’s senior adviser. “It’s a critical link that’s currently missing from our state’ s economic development and transportation ecosystem, particularly for southern New Haven and Fairfield Counties.
“Whether that airport is Tweed or Sikorsky remains to be seen,” Johnson said. “But he looks forward to having conversations about where best to locate this airport with legislative leaders and the Connecticut Airport Authority.”
Tong said Friday that the decision on whether to appeal
involved “complex legal issues. Our office will continue to carefully evaluate those legal issues to determine the best course of action. The State has 90 days to seek to appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, should it elect todo so.”
Looney and Fasano both said that even if there’s no appeal or the highcourt declines to hear it, the city still must satisfy neighbors both in New Haven and East Haven.
Specifically, they say the city must engage in sincere dialogue— more sincere than it has to date— and come up with a specific package of community benefits for the surrounding neighborhoods if it wants to see its bid to pave runway safety areas and expand the usable length of the main runway to at least 6,000feet go through.
Tweed, whichis owned by New Haven, straddles both communities. abutting New Haven’ s Morris Cove neighborhood and several neighborhood sin East Haven.
Even if there is no appeal, there will be public hearings on the environmental applications for any project, at which thepublic will testify— and right now, there’s not a lot of trust, said the two lawmakers and neighbors.
“The affected communities in New Haven and East Haven, they have not been treated with respect by the City of New Haven,” said Susan
Campion, a Morris Cove resident who is part of a coalition that has expressed concerns about airport expansion.
“What Iwould like to see is a clear, factbased presentation of the plan ... of expansion,” Campion said. “Folks in both East Haven and New Haven would like to see where community input will be allowed.”
“If youwant to see” a viable program of community benefits ,“get community members involved,” she said. “We want to see community representatives, who are affected, whohave been involved in this ... on every oversight or study group that’s required by the FAA.”
Rachel Heerema, who lives on Fort Hale Road in Morris Cove and has been concerned about the enviromental aspects of any airport expansion, said of the appeals court decision ,“Naturally, I’m disappointed by thedecision because the airport is sucha small boutique airport and it’s surrounded by two such strong vibrant neighborhoods.
“Itmakes no sense that only the folks in Washington, D.C., should have anything to say aboutwhat happens,” Heerema said.
For Heerema, “It’s not so much the number of enplanements” that matters. “It’s the ancillary damage that needs