Cites Vital Role Stow Airport Plays In Aviation
Infrastructure
The FAA's response to Kent State
University plans for closing down its airport at Stow?
"Highly unlikely."
That's what the FAA's Irene Porter wrote in a letter to Kent
State President Carol Cartwright on May 21st, according to the
Akron Beacon-Journal.
"The vital role this airport plays in the national
transportation system, reflected by the investments made by the
Federal Government and the (school's) willingness to invest and
develop the facility in recent years, is inconsistent with a
request for closure," Porter said in the letter.
Still, FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said this is an ongoing
dialogue, not a final answer from Washington. And Kent State
officials think they have a "compelling" reason for closing the
airport. If KSU has its way, it will move it aviation operations to
Portage County Airport in Shalersville Township (OH).
Why?
Last month, university officials said they had a number of
reasons:
If the Stow airport's operation tempo increases by 40-percent,
as predicted, the runway will have to be made longer.
If the runway has to be lengthened, larger aircraft will be
attracted to the airport. If that happens, expect a major battle
with airport neighbors over noise.
The university can't put caps on public use of the airport.
A university committee studying the matter reported "there is no
political or public acceptance for any physical expansion or
increase in air activity" -- a possibility the Beacon-Journal
reports was met with "vocal and candid opposition."
"I don't think anyone in Stow will like the letter," said
Communities Against Flight Expansion spokesman Bill Brunsdon in an
interview with the Akron paper. "They're not taking into account
the residents or the university's needs."
But Brundson apparently doesn't know Tom Lowery, who heads up
another citizen's group, the Friends of the Airport in Stow.
Lowery says his group has "always believed that the current
runway length is sufficient for handling current and projected
traffic, and that closing the airport in order to move the flight
school to the Portage County Airport is unjustified."
Once again, however, the FAA is playing its trump card --
federal grants. In this case, they amount to $3.9 million since
1981. Shutting down the airport would mean Kent State has to pay
back all that money.