Commission Subcommittee Backs Airport Vegetation Plan

CHATHAM – The airport commission’s controversial vegetation management plan won the backing of a Cape Cod Commission subcommittee following a public hearing Tuesday.

Subcommittee members found that the proposed vegetation trimming and removal within the buffer to a vernal pool near the southwest corner of the airport runway was necessary for safety and to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

The work is consistent with a hardship exemption granted to the airport in 2005, the subcommittee found, and complies with the agency’s 2018 regional policy plan.

Commission staff will draft modifications to the original hardship exemption with findings and conditions to be presented to the full commission at a virtual meeting on July 25.

The airport commission applied for a “major modification” of the 2005 Development of Regional Impact (DRI) decision last December; in February, after the airport commission requested a notice of intent for the work, the conservation commission made a discretionary referral to the Cape Cod Commission, specifically of the vegetation management plan.

Under the plan, which has been approved by the FAA and the state Department of Transportation, trees that exceed the maximum height for safety purposes will be selectively removed within a 350-foot area around the vernal pool. No work is proposed within 100 feet of the vernal pool. The work area encompasses about 0.6 acres.

The airport commission also plans a wider tree project on both airport and private property to trim and remove trees that pose a safety hazard at both ends of the runway. Because that work does not fall within state and local wetlands regulations, it is not under the jurisdiction of the conservation commission or the Cape Cod Commission.

Mitigation steps proposed by Cape Cod Commission staff include minimizing the extent of the work to that which allows the airport to comply with FAA regulations; developing and implementing an invasive species management plan; limiting the work to between December and February to avoid impacting vernal pool-dependant species; use of hand tools in areas close to the vernal pool; and leaving tree logs within adjacent areas to provide habitat for wildlife.

Commission Chief Regulatory Officer Jordan Velozo recommended that the commission align its conditions with the conservation commission’s final order of conditions.

The project did not trigger a new DRI, she added, because unlike the 2005 plans — which included repaving the runway and other infrastructure work — there is no new development involved that meets the trigger for a DRI review.

Subcommittee member Elizabeth Taylor was concerned that vegetation management hadn’t been done since the 2005 plan. That’s not the case, said Matt Caron of airport consultant Gale Associates. Vegetation was cleared a few years later, but funds for additional work were not available for further work until the commission undertook an update of its master plan in 2017. As part of that process, trees around the vernal pool and on private property were surveyed and those that posed a safety hazard were identified. FAA and state funding is available to do the proposed work as well as to monitor and continue the vegetation management plan over the next five years, he said.

Taylor said she’s heard that the work was being done to attract more and larger aircraft to the airport, but both Caron and Airport Commission Chair Huntley Harrison said that was not the reason behind the plan.

“There’s a lot of disinformation being spread around about the airport trying to entice aircraft,” Caron said. The work is instead aimed at meeting FAA guidelines and ensuring safety, he said.

A number of residents commented during the hearing, some repeating claims that the plan is a veiled attempt to expand the airport.

“This is not about safety but to enable development of the airport,” said airport critic Michael Tompset.

Others likened the project to trimming trees along roadways and power lines, citing the regional nature of the facility and the aviation resources that depend on it, including the Coast Guard, Medflight and other agencies.

“Chatham is the only airport between Hyannis and Provincetown, a large area on our unique peninsula,” said pilot Gavin Archibald. Subcommittee Chair Harold Mitchell said more than 41 written comments were submitted; all are available on the commission’s website. www.capecodcommission.org.

The conservation commission was scheduled to vote on the notice of intent for the vegetation management plan Wednesday.

The Cape Cod Commission’s July 25 meeting will be held virtually at 3 p.m. Mitchell noted that public comments are still open and can be submitted through the commission’s website.