Babylon Town announces offensive to halt expansion of Republic Airport by Carolyn James

Photo by Cliff De Bear

Babylon Town officials announced a major offensive to halt any expansion of Republic Airport, and to hold the airport’s management accountable. Saying he’s tired of the "clandestine" way in which the airport has conducted its business, Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone challenged the airport to bring its business into the "shining light of day" and stop threatening the economic viability of Route 110 and the Town of Babylon.

In a resolution passed by the town board June 15, the town called upon the airport management to reconvene and:

• complete the long overdue master plan with full public input;

•immediately halt and refrain from efforts to acquire additional property or undertake any additions and/or physical changes until the master plan is completed, in order to:

•shorten runway 13/32 by eliminated the displaced threshold to address safety concerns that the airport itself has raised.

"We are at a critical point with Republic," said Bellone. "If we don’t act now and address the safety and expansion concerns there, we will not only lose the battle, but we will lose the war."

Bellone said the town board is committed to mounting the challenge on whatever fronts are needed: political, public and legal. "We will do whatever it takes to ensure the integrity of our communities and our economy," said Bellone.

Gary Lewi, a spokesman for Republic, said he could not comment specifically on the town’s move, but added that airport executives were looking at the resolution so they can prepare an appropriate response.

"We are not prepared to go to war and would never engage in a conflict with another municipality," said Lewi. "That would simply not be productive for either side."

Officials from the Town of Oyster Bay have been concerned about noise and other issues related to the airport as well. Reached this week, N.C. Leg. Dave Mejias said he would be monitoring the situation closely.

For years, the town, its residents and civic leaders have complained that the airport’s management, under the jurisdiction of the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), has worked to bring in more, and bigger, planes to Republic, which has had a negative impact on their communities. And, while the airport has said consistently that it has no intention of developing Republic as a major airport, critics say their actions indicate otherwise.

"The DOT tells us that they are defending a lawsuit to uphold the 60,000 pound weight limit on planes at Republic, but at the same time is seeking a change in the design aircraft to a C-three," said Helen Norjen of Farmingdale who has fought against airport expansion at Republic for years. "A C-three would allow 727s, which weigh 200,000 pounds, so we are not being told the truth, and are not being treated fairly."

The 60,000 pound weight limit was set when the airport challenged a curfew placed on it by the town.

Lewi said larger planes do not necessarily mean more noise, however. "We have had a lot of military aircraft using Republic since 9/11, but we have worked long and hard to try and get older jets like Leer to work within specific hours to have less of an impact (on residents)," said Lewi.

The airport is on 526 acres of land and pays no property taxes. While that in and of itself offends some residents, airport officials point out that it brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in economic advantages to the town.

These are figures that Norjen said the airport has refused to outline in detail citing privacy concerns of its airport users. "Anyone can say anything about numbers that aren’t held up to public scrutiny," she said.

The airport has also been charged with dragging its feet on completing the master plan, which is designed to outline the long-range objectives of the DOT for the airport and has, instead, completed projects piecemeal, said Norjen and others. That has enabled the airport to circumvent environmental regulations that require public hearings, and essentially complete an overall plan without public scrutiny, say challengers. "Whatever happens at that airport is controlled by money; the companies that buy planes and use Republic, are the ones who are telling the officials what the airport should become," said Anthony Pancella, a resident of North Lindenhurst who served as a community representative on the airport board. "And the larger the planes they bring in, the more concrete they have to lay and the more noise and disruption they cause," he added.

Lewi disagreed. "I think everyone is wrestling with the master plan process and we are all concerned that it has taken more than a decade to get off the ground, he said. But the sense of committment to getting it done correctly, and with as much input as possible on all of the issues is, by its nature, very difficult and divisive."

Most recently, the town and the airport’s management have been at odds over the construction of a Stew Leonard’s supermarket on the southwest corner of Route 100 and Conklin Avenue, on the west side of Route 110, just north of the airport. While the project has tremendous public support, has received all town approvals, and received a No Hazard go ahead from the FAA, the state has made every effort to kill the project, said Babylon Town Commissioner of Planning Peter Casserly. The state has denied the developers the right to install curb cuts along Route 110 and attempted to rescind previous approvals. When all of that failed, and lawsuits by the Republic Pilots Association didn’t thwart the project, the state told the town to hold up building permits because of questions about an easement on the site.

"They’ve tried everything and used every department in the state to see to it that this project is killed," said Bellone. "And while the developer has indicated that he is determined to see this project go through, there is just so much determination anyone can have and he will ultimately face the question of just how long he can really fight this."

The pilots have said, and maintain, that the store will be located at the end of the airport’s instrument landing flight path, and as such, poses a real and serious risk. And, while there is a multi-plex theater, restaurants and a shopping center immediately across Route 110, the difference is that these buildings are not in the final landing path, said Lewi.

If the building were shifted 200 feet to the south, the aeronautic issues would go away, said Lewi, "But the owner is not prepared to do that. Yet statistics show that it is in the final seconds of landing that most airline accidents take place, so having this building at its current location would place potentially hundreds of people at risk every day."

"The FAA has determined this is not an issue of safety and has given its approval of the plan," Bellone countered. "I think we have to believe the FAA before we believe Republic pilots."

The FAA initially issued a determination of "no hazard" to air navigation to the Stew Leonard’s project, and that was appealed by the Republic Pilots Association. In a letter dated Dec. 17, 2003, Sabra W. Kaulia, program director for Air Traffic and Airspace Management for the FAA, reiterated that agency’s position. "We find that the Regional Office property followed all of the necessary procedures in making the subject determination," said Kaulia. "Your petition failed to make any new facts or information that would change the basis on which the determination was made. A determination of No Hazard is final."

Other efforts to block the construction of the building were made. In October 2003, the town’s zoning board of appeals gave final approvals on the Stew Leonard’s application. The pilots filed a legal challenge, claiming that the zoning board’s decision was made without a recommendation from Suffolk County planning. And, while a recommendation from the county had been made to the town’s planning board, the courts upheld the pilots’ claim and the zoning board approval had to be rescinded.

A month later, however, the zoning board held another hearing and included the county’s recommendation in its proceedings, again granting Stew Leonard’s the necessary approvals.

While Bellone’s get-tough stance is a new approach to an old problem, the town runs a risk. With the state already embroiled in a long, protracted litigation allegedly defending the 60,000-pound weight limit, and with other airport-related issues continuing to consume time and money, the state could simply opt to drop the lawsuits and condemn the Stew Leonard’s property, effectively paving the way for even more changes at the airport. Such a move, however, said Bellone, would infuriate the residents of Babylon, and be strenuously fought by local state officials who would not stand idly by and allow that to happen.

Bellone said that the DOT and Republic officials know that they cannot and will ultimately not win the Stew Leonard’s issue in the courts, but that they continue to do whatever they can to delay and disrupt the project, hoping the developer will decide it is taking too long to build the store.

"If that happens," cautioned Bellone, "it will send the message to every developer that they cannot come here to Babylon and build anything. It will be the death knell of our economy."

"We’ve been fighting this airport for 20 years and I just hope that the town succeeds and we don’t allow future generations to be under siege," said Norjen.

"We would welcome a dialogue on all points of this resolution because the town should understand that sending the message to business that the airport and the municipality are embroiled in a major disagreement is also no solution," said Lewi. "Declaring war is no answer; stonewalling is no answer, and anger is no answer. This airport is too important for us to engage in a cold war of words and ligitation."