Concord Journal
August 4, 2005

HATS will ask for environmental review

By Barbara Forster/ Correspondent

Whether Hanscom Field is getting a new business or a new terminal was a
hot topic for the Hanscom Area Towns Committee on Thursday, July 28.

Crosspoint, an affiliate company of Eastern Development, LLC, is at the
center of the maelstrom. The Woburn-based firm is negotiating a lease with
Massport to transform the former MIT facility, also known as Hangar 24, into
a new business as a Fixed Based Operator that would include a
60,000-square-foot hangar with 18,000 square feet of office space, and
13,000 square feet of aviation-related space.

And, claims HATS, the aviation-related space includes terminal
facilities for passenger services and therefore constitutes a new terminal.
The conclusion stems from Federal Aviation Administration definitions of
General Aviation as including various activities and users and accompanying
requirements such as aircraft storage facilities, transient parking aprons,
and terminal facilities.

The argument is that Crosspoint's plans for the former hangar do not
represent "simple redevelopment" but rather a new use and, even more
important, a use that was not discussed in the environmental study for
Hanscom conducted in 2000. "In the future scenarios (section), Massport
didn't anticipate this use, so they couldn't anticipate those kinds of
(environmental) impacts," said Richard Canale, co-chairman of the
Environmental Sub-Comittee for HATS.

MEPA regulations require proponents seeking to build new terminals to
file an Environmental Notification Form and an Environmental Impact Report.
Expansion plans require only notification, although the state can ask for
more in-depth study.

Crosspoint's plans can also be interpreted as expansion, said Canale.
In the 2000 study, Massport divided the airport into various geographic
planning areas that included the civil air terminal and the current FBOs.
The Pine Hill area, which is where Hangar 24 is located, was treated
separately in the study and was not included in the terminal area.

HATS plans to notify various parties -- including Massport, Crosspoint,
the state environmental agency, and legislators -- that because the project
involves building a new terminal, environmental review is required.

Crosspoint wants to build a 60,000-square-foot hangar with 13,000
square feet of aviation-related space, and 18,000 square feet of office
space. The facility will also have 100 parking spaces.

With Crosspoint, Hanscom would have three Fixed Based Operators.
Signature, which is also at Logan, and Jet Aviation are the other two.

MIT moved its research operations to Hanscom Air Force Base in 2001.

-- Efforts to stop Crosspoint begin

On Monday, Aug. 1, the state environmental agency received a request to
stop Crosspoint's efforts to establish a new business at Hanscom Air Field.

Attorneys representing Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's
Irreplaceable Resources asked the state for an environmental review of the
project. The grassroots organization argues that building facilities for new
passenger services is equivalent to a new terminal.

"Essentially we asked for an advisory opinion to put work on this
project on hold," said Lexington's Kay Tiffany of ShhAir. "We want a
reasonable airport -- an airport that won't overwhelm the environment -- and
this project has huge implications for the communities."

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