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July 22, 2021

Revamped Tweed plan clears first hurdle at City Plan meeting

PHOTO | File image Tweed-New Haven Airport.
By Liese Klein

The New Haven City Plan Commission Wednesday night signed off on key measures to advance a $100 million revamp of Tweed-New Haven Airport. 

Members unanimously approved an amended lease with the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority that would allow for a longer runway, construction of a new terminal and garage and a new sublease with a private investor. 

The commission also approved repealing an ordinance that capped the weight limit of planes at Tweed at a level that would exclude larger planes. (The repeal is a technicality as federal authorities have sole control over weight limits at airports, city officials said.)

The city needs to approve a.43-year lease extension with the airport authority before finalizing a sub-lease with Avports, the current operator of the airport. 

"We are very appreciative of the insights from the City Plan Commission tonight as they moved the item forward to the Board of Alders,”  Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli said after the meeting. “The commission often takes a long-term viewpoint which is consistent with the economic and environmental initiatives that are important for Tweed over the full term of the lease.”

Commission Vice-Chair Edward Mattison said he was concerned that the airport revamp could end up as a financial boondoggle for the city and urged the Board of Alders to carefully study the costs and benefits of the project. 

“I think this an extraordinary opportunity for the city, but we don’t have enough information if it’s fiscally reasonable,” Mattison said. Other members urged scrutiny of the plan’s environmental impacts and the potential worsening of noise issues in the surrounding neighborhoods.

“It’s a creative proposal that we need in this time,” said Sean Scanlon, executive director of the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority. 

The new lease will allow the city to phase out subsidies to the airport and reduce its risk in the operation of the facility, according to Scanlon.

“What is working right now is at best not working, at worst a liability for the city,” he said. 

A series of public hearings on the plan are scheduled to continue through the summer. The plan is expected to be voted on by the Board of Alders in the fall. 

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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