LINCOLN

Selectmen OK article targeting Hanscom airfield
Residents' initiative will face Town Meeting vote

By Eun Lee Koh, Globe Staff Correspondent, 2/2/2002

In the latest effort to block future expansion at Hanscom Field, Lincoln residents have succeeded in getting an article on the spring Town Meeting warrant that, if approved, would call on state officials to block increased flight activity at the airport.

The Lincoln article is coordinated to match similar efforts in Bedford, Concord, and Lexington, aimed at rallying the governor, legislators, and the Massachusetts Port Authority to protect historic and cultural resources by preventing further expansion. If all four communities pass the articles at their respective Town Meetings this spring, it would be the second time since 1996 that the abutting towns vote in a coordinated effort to oppose a Hanscom expansion.

''This would be a stronger message if we all went on record together,'' said Jim Hutchinson, a Lincoln resident who sponsored the article. ''We're aiming for a united voice.''

Hutchinson -- a member of ShhAir, or Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's Irreplaceable Resources, a regional activist group that opposes Hanscom expansion -- said the goal is not to permanently ground flights at the airport, but to keep operations from growing.

As recently as 2000, Hanscom, after Logan Airport, had the most takeoffs and landings among New England airports, with about 210,000 operations that year, according to Massport's 2002 State of Hanscom report.

In the past two years, due to a slowing economy and lagging ticket sales, the two commercial carriers at Hanscom, Shuttle America and Boston-Maine Airways, have both cut back the number of flights to just a handful a day. But residents said they fear the number of flights will start climbing again if the economy picks up.

Massport has no immediate plans to expand the airport's facilities, and there are no plans to move flights from Logan or any other airport to Hanscom, according to Richard Walsh, the agency's senior community representative.

However, Walsh said the agency has limited control over the number of flights and landings at Hanscom because they are determined by the carriers based on public demand. For example, he said, if Shuttle America wanted to add additional flights to its current schedule, Massport could not outright reject them.

''Hanscom, like the Mass. Pike, is a public-use facility,'' Walsh said. ''We maintain the airport, but we can't say, `No, you cannot land here today.' It's like telling the next car waiting at the toll booth that it can't drive on the Pike.''

Much of the agency's long-term planning will be guided by a state environmental report, which will fully examine the airport's impact on the region and the environment until the year 2015, Walsh said. A draft was released in January, and the final report is expected to completed in May.

Lincoln Board of Selectmen chairwoman Sara Mattes, who voted with other members of the board Monday to place the article on the warrant, said tension between the airport and abutters in the four towns has been mounting for years.

''This is an issue that definitely affects the quality of life of residents in Lincoln and other towns,'' Mattes said. ''I can't predict what will happen at Town Meeting, but it's an issue that we're all aware of.''

The draft environmental report, written by the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, found that the airport ''adequately and properly'' complies with state law. But the report urges Massport, which owns and operates Hanscom, to consider traffic and noise impacts over the next 10 years. But groups like Save Our Heritage say the report does not go far enough. They challenge state legislators to pass legislation limiting the number of commercial and corporate jet flights out of Hanscom, saying noise, traffic, and air pollution are the greatest reasons for concern.

''We are not anti-aviation, but we feel there are resources in our neighborhoods that we must protect,'' said Anna Winter, a Concord resident who has led Save Our Heritage with husband, Neil E. Rasmussen. ''We need our leaders to acknowledge that we need rules and guidelines. This airport is located in a historical area with sites that have to be protected.''

This story ran on page 1 of the Globe West section on 2/2/2002. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. ==========
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