Great Barrington — A third public hearing on a special permit application submitted by Berkshire Aviation Enterprises, owners of the Walter J. Koladza Airport, is scheduled for Monday, April 10 at 6 p.m.
On Monday, April 3, the Selectboard held a two-and-a-half-hour public hearing to review draft findings of fact that may be part of the approval of the special permit. The findings, which were drafted by Assistant Town Manager and Town Planner Chris Rembold, include the proposed conditions of the special permit. The findings of fact are included in the information packet for the April 3 hearing, which also included maps of the property, a legal opinion from Town Attorney David Doneski, a statewide Airport Economic Impact Study from 2019 submitted by company attorney Dennis Egan, names of residents who signed an online petition against granting the airport a special permit, along with other data and information.
The application for the special permit was filed on January 10, with the company looking for a special permit to operate under sections 3.1.4.E, 7.2, and 10.4 of the town’s zoning bylaws. Section 3.1.4.E covers permitted uses in town including “Utilities, communication, and transportation.” Section 7.2 covers aviation fields, while Section 10.4 covers special permits.
The special permit application was made in light of a group of residents filing a civil complaint against the Zoning Board of Appeals over its decision in April 2022 to uphold a decision by zoning enforcement officer Edwin May. May’s decision denied a request from the neighbors of the airport to enforce the town’s zoning bylaw against the airport. The case is still pending in the state Land Court.
At the April 3 public hearing, Selectboard Chair Stephen Bannon once again did not accept comments from the public, just as during the previous public hearing on March 13. During the hearing, the Selectboard did not take formal votes on the proposed changes to the draft but instead made informal verbal agreements to the proposed changes.
At the beginning of the hearing, Bannon asked Rembold if the Selectboard had a set deadline to make a final decision on the special permit. “You don’t have a deadline as long as the hearing is open and active,” Rembold replied. “But you have kind of a practical deadline and the makeup of this board will change at the time of election.” (The annual town election is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, and current Selectboard member Ed Abrahams is not running for re-election.)
In response, Chair Bannon said that he wanted the Selectboard to decide on the special permit by the next regular meeting on April 10.
In the draft that was reviewed at the April 3 hearing, it states, “There is no definitive record of how many flights occur at the Airport. The Applicant reported that it does not systematically track daily flight operations, and could not provide that kind of data to the Selectboard. However, the Applicant also reported during the hearing that in the past there have been more flight school instructors than there are now.”
Toward the beginning of the hearing, Abrahams questioned this part of the draft. “I don’t know if we want to quantify that,” Abrahams said. “The articles in The Edge had statements from Berkshire Aviation that it had anywhere from 5,210 to 128,900 per year.”
“Are we using The Edge as an accurate record?” Bannon said in response. “We’ll have complaints about that.”
Both Bannon and Abrahams were referring to part three of Bill Shein’s series about the airport, published on February 25, 2023e in The Edge.
“How much and how busy it is I guess is the point we’re making,” Abrahams said. “I guess the point is that we don’t need to put it in there if we don’t need it. The Department of Transportation said that there were 29,800 in 2008 and it was estimated to be 39,000 by 2019. I’m trying to make the point, which is stated, that we have no idea.”
“It would be nice to be able to have a benchmark, but we don’t have it,” Vice Chair Leigh Davis added. Back at the March 13 public hearing, Egan told the Selectboard that the Federal Aviation Administration does not require the airport to count the number of annual aircraft operations.
Abrahams questioned whether or not the conditions of the special permit could also apply to future owners of the airport.
“It certainly is a possibility that a future owner could take a different position either on a factual or legal matter from the current applicant,” Doneski told the Selectboard. “So that to me would be something that you could include [in the findings].”
Eventually, the following was added to section B, under “general findings”: “The applicant states they will abide by all conditions of the special permit, even conditions beyond the authority of the special permit granting authority that is usually the domain of the FAA or MassDOT. However, future owners may have a legal right to ignore conditions beyond the legal authority of a special permit granting authority.”
Later on during the hearing, the Selectboard debated on whether or not to prohibit the airport’s flight school from operating on Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. “It would be a nice neighborly gesture,” Selectboard member Eric Gabriel said. “I see those [summer holidays] as picnic and barbecue days. It seems like it would be a nice neighborly gesture for the area to say no flight school that day.”
“I’m not a big Labor Day person, but that’s just me,” Bannon said.
Egon told the Selectboard that “the applicant does not agree with July 4.”
Eventually, the Selectboard agreed that a condition would be that the airport does not operate its flight school on Independence Day, and Memorial Day.
Click here for the draft conditions findings of fact as reviewed by the Selectboard on April 5.
