Sep. 26—NEW HAVEN — Tweed New Haven Regional Airport will be able to continue to use existing temporary terminals on the New Haven side of the airport for another three years after receiving unanimous approval from the City Plan Commission.
The approval grants a 36-month extension on a 2021 variance to the city's flood prevention ordinance. The vote came after members heard a presentation by Avports, which manages the airport, and the testimony of about 16 residents.
About 50 people attended a public hearing on the application Wednesday night on Zoom. The variance is necessary because the modular, trailer-like buildings were installed in an area that occasionally floods.
Avports representatives argued the extension was necessary while Tweed negotiates the permitting process to build a proposed 80,000-square-foot terminal on the East Haven side of the airport.
Avports' application initially sought a 36-month extension from the date the proposed new terminal is completed, which Avports estimated will be in 2027. But commission members made it clear the 36-month period begins upon approval.
"The language in the application caused confusion," said City Plan Department Executive Director Laura Brown. "Our understanding in writing the staff report was the variance should go into effect immediately ... We did not intend for it to be dependent on any other agency's approval."
Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, said he favored approval despite some misgivings.
"I must admit that I feel some concern about the possibility that we'll be facing this same situation three years from now," Marchand said.
"I think a preferred outcome is the airport moving to a better and more permanent facility than it has now," Marchand said. "I realize that there is no way that anyone can guarantee that ... But I must admit that I feel some concern about that."
Andrew King, a spokesman for Avports, said Federal Aviation Administration approval of the environmental assessment for the proposed new terminal "went a little longer than usual," taking about 14 months.
He said they expect to get through the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection applications this fall and all the way through the permitting process by the end of next summer. The construction is expected to be completered by summer 2027.
"These structures are important to the configuration of the airport," King said.
He said without them, the airport would lose more than half of its capacity, forcing a large percentage of Tweed's passengers to wait outside in the elements.
Tweed currently is served by Avelo Airlines, with Breeze Airways scheduled to begin flights Dec. 10.
Even with the added airline, Joe Williams of Shipman & Goodwin, an attorney for Avports, said they are not asking for any changes to what has been in place since 2021.
Prior to taking up the application itself, the commission voted unanimously not to allow East Haven neighbors Lorena Venegas and Patrick Rowland to intervene in the proceedings. Intervenor status would have given them standing to call their own experts and question any experts brought in by Avports or its subsidiary, The New HVN LLC.
Commission members pointed out several times that Rowland and Venegas, who oppose Tweed's expansion, both would still have the opportunity to be heard during the public hearing. They also questioned if Venegas would provide a "higher standard" of inquiry compared to just speaking during the hearing.
In the end, both Rowland and Venegas were among those who spoke during the public hearing. They also got to express their opinions earlier while arguing for intervenor status.
"The state building code clearly states that a temporary building permit is 180 days," Rowland said while arguing for intervenor status. "You have allowed this to remain for three years."
He added there was nothing in the state building code that allowed a temporary structure to remain for three years.
He referenced recent severe floods in Oxford and Southbury, and said property owners in flood-prone areas don't always get advance notice of dangerous flooding.
Rowland later argued that "three years is tremendously different from six years."
"Six years is no longer temporary," he said.
Venegas urged the commission to deny the application, pointing out that there have been "multiple (flooding) events that completely shut down the airport despite the fact that they were not significant weather events" and showed photographs of past airport flooding.
New Haven Lighthouse Road resident Jules Scanley also raised flooding concerns
"It's not a question of if there's flooding. It's when and how bad," Scanley said. "You can't predict when it's going to happen or how bad it's going to be."
Steven Trinkaus, a licensed professional engineer hired by East Haven, said if what happened in Oxford and Southbury happened in Morris Cove, the temporary trailers would have blown or floated away, he said.
"Building anything below the base flood elevation is simply a bad idea," he said. "It doesn't matter whether it's temporary or not."
East Haven also opposed the extension because there is "confusion" over exactly what Avports applied for with "at least six different versions on the city's website," said Christopher Rousseau, an attorney representing the town of East Haven.
Gabriela Campos, of New Haven, took issue with the extension.
"Campos said. "They've had three years to meet the requirements," Campos said. "So they've had ample time and ample opportunity to meet the requirements, and they did not."
Toni Lorenti, of Meriden, who is a commercial airline pilot but speaking personally, spoke in favor of the application and asked the commission "to consider this application as a bridge to New Haven's future."
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