Westchester Government Holds Line on Airport Expansion in 2024
Background
Back in 2003, Westchester County’s Board of Legislators passed a non-expansion resolution for the county’s airport, based on concern for protecting the nearby Kensico Reservoir and other adverse environmental impacts.
The Kensico Reservoir supplies drinking water for over half of Westchester’s 1 million residents, plus millions more in New York City.
At the end of the Astorino administration (2009-2017), one flxed based operator (“FBO”) leasing space at the airport, Million Air, was allowed to build a new hangar and terminal in 2017.
In 2018, the Latimer administration took steps to manage expansion and the airport’s environmental impact, mainly by re-starting “sentinel” wells at the airport that test the groundwater for pollutants which might find their way into the Kensico Reservoir. They also took on planning for remediation of PFAS contamination found at the airport in 2017.
Meanwhile, Million Air wanted to build a second hangar, and asserted its right to do so under their lease. Furthermore, Million Air wanted to deny ground services and parking space to smaller planes, known as “light general aviation”.
The Latimer administration disagreed with Million Air and the two parties found themselves in court starting in 2021.
The Settlement - Great News
This year, the parties finally settled, with Million Air backing off its plans for a new hangar, and agreeing to accommodate light general aviation.
This is great news for Westchester residents and avoids the incremental environmental impact that this project would have created.
The Coalition to Prevent Westchester Airport Expansion extends its appreciation to:
1) the Westchester County Law Department under John Nonna, including attorneys Justin Adin, Sean Carey, and Shawna MacLeod and the persistence of Westchester County Director of Operations Joan McDonald; and
2) the advocacy of the seven municipalities nearest the airport, the diligence of the Airport Advisory Board that raised multiple concerns about the project, the awareness and action of our Westchester County Legislators, and comments made by citizens and Coalition members.
The Future of Westchester County Airport
We expect new challenges to continue to come down the pike, and must remain vigilant.
Ground services businesses and airlines at the airport will want to expand. But what’s good for them is not necessarily good for the health of Westchester residents - our drinking water, for our air, or for our ears.
To help future decision-makers with what happened in our time, we appreciate the action of Nancy Barr, the Westchester County Legislator whose district includes the airport and Harrison, Rye Brook and Port Chester.
At the 11/18/2024 meeting of the Board of Legislators, Legislator Barr took a few minutes to describe Million Air’s regrettable behavior, and it’s worth a few minutes to see what she said. She appears at 1:04 - 1:13 on this video recording:
https://westchestercountyny.granicus.com/player/clip/7349?view_id=1&redirect=true
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