Key Air Withdraws Anoka Airport Expansion Request
Move Follows Action By Local Councils Opposing Project
CENTERVILLE / LINO LAKES - The Centerville City Council gave wings to a resolution opposing any further expansion of the Anoka County-Blaine Airport just days before airport operator Key Air withdrew its March request to lengthen and strengthen an existing airport runway. Centerville joins a handful of other area cities, including Lino Lakes, in opposing the project.
The resolution adopted by the council at its May 27 meeting also opposed any possible future legislative efforts to reclassify the airport—the second largest airport in the Metropolitan Airport Commission’s regional airport system— and any future move by the Anoka County Board of Commissioners to lend support to such legislation.
Key Air notified the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) last Thursday that it is formally withdrawing its March 19, 2009 letter to MAC requesting the extension of Runway 9-27 to 6,000 feet. It did so, a MAC press release states, because the company has concluded that “this was probably not the time to invest in expansion of the runway beyond its current 5,000 feet.”
Some believe the project would increase the number and size of planes fl ying in and out of the airport on an east-west trajectory above Birch Street. Th e 4-mile mark is located east of the airport in the city of Lino Lakes between Rice and Baldwin lakes.
In a letter to the Metropolitan Airports Commission dated March 19, 2009 requesting MAC’s approval of the proposed runway improvements, Key Air Sr. Vice President of Global FBO Operations John Mason had cited Key Air’s commitment to higher-than-required safety standards as one reason why the additional improvements were needed, and promised business growth in the area.
“This new business be ing brought to Anoka County will fuel other businesses and the economy, creating jobs and increasing the quality of life for the residents of the area,” the March 19 letter stated. “The increased operational capabilities at the Anoka County-Blaine airport will also continue to ease the growing congestion at MSP and provide an option for new and existing flight departments due to the space limitations at [St. Paul’s Holman Field].”
But Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah, who represents District 6, said she hasn’t noticed any new businesses beating a trail to Anoka County since a 2007 improvement project was completed.
“I am not aware of any companies that have located in Anoka County because of the so-called [2007] safety expansion, other than Key Air,” Sivarajah said.
It has been less than two years since the expansion, supported by Anoka County, added 1,000 feet to Runway 9-27, installed an instrument landing system (ILS) to guide pilots in low visibility conditions, and lengthened a taxiway parallel to the runway.
The county issued general obligation bonds in the amount of $20 million to fund the 2007 improvements, which it said would “improve safety, make the airport more functional for business and decrease noise for area residents.”
Sivarajah said the further expansion of the airport could actually cost the county money by lowering property values, and thus lower the taxes that Anoka County receives each year from those properties.
National studies on the impacts of airports on surrounding property values estimate those losses at 10 to 27.5 percent, she told The Citizen.
The commissioner went on to say that recent research by Anoka County’s property tax division—using a “very conservative estimate”—indicates that if the airport expands, the county could see a reduction in total market value of almost $260 million, resulting in an annual loss of tax capacity of $2.6 million. Those estimates assume an average 9.2% loss for properties located within 2 miles of the airport, and a 5.7% loss of value for properties located between 2-3 miles from the airport.
“You would have to have quite a few businesses locate here in order to make that up,” she said.
More Land Than Midway
A meeting scheduled for last Dec. 2 by the Anoka County Board’s Airport Committee to take public comment on a resolution in support of the expansion was canceled after extensive negative public feedback at a meeting the previous month—opposition largely galvanized by the activities of the Citizens of the North Metro (CCNM) group, which opposes the expansion.
Under existing law, the runway extension would require reclassification of the airport by the legislature to “intermediate” status; currently, the Anoka County-Blaine Airport—which in 2008 accommodated 69,403 takeoffs and landings—is classified as a “minor” airport in which runways may not exceed 5,000 feet. Intermediate airports may have runways of up to 8,000 feet in length.
Centerville resident Paul Lund, who holds a commercial pilot’s license, told council members at the May 27 meeting that in his opinion, Key Air’s proposal is “not going to [have] a huge impact [on Centerville],” but added that the physical size of the land parcel on which the airport sits—1,900 acres—is much bigger than 320-acre Chicago’s Midway Airport, which handles large planes.
Should the airport expand in the future, Lund suggested, “the noise factor could make a big difference.”
“Changes in the airport design will benefit few and hurt many,” Lund told council members, “with (so far), little or no opportunity for public comment.”
Council Member Ben Fehrenbacher said, “[Development proposals] like this reduce taxes,” and then offered, “To me, that sounds a bit sneaky, trying to push it through without public comment.”
“I don’t know that a resolution will change anybody’s mind,” Council Member Tom Lee said resignedly before casting his vote in support of the resolution, which passed unanimously.
The Lino Lakes City Council passed a similar measure 4- 1 after listening to a March 2 presentation given by CCNM representatives. Lino Lakes Mayor John Bergeson opposed the resolution. “At the time,” he said, “I didn’t feel we had enough information to be taking a position.”
CCNM co-chair and Mounds View resident Barb Haake says that the fact that Key Air has now set aside its request isn’t going to lead to complacency on her part.
“Yes, I do believe this issue will come back again,” Haake, who supports statewide aviation long-term planning, told The Citizen.
“I will be monitoring everything MAC, the Met Council, Anoka County and Key Air will be doing in airport planning from now on.”