Board Weighs Future Restaurant at Airport
NORTH ANDOVER — The Lawrence Municipal Airport Commission’s new administration building continues its review process with the Planning Board and what airport lighting may be needed with a future restaurant.
The board opened a public hearing on the site plan review special permit for the Lawrence Municipal Airport’s proposed administration building project during its Tuesday meeting.
Planning Director Jean Enright said the improvements will allow for the airport to continue providing services like emergency medical care, law enforcement operations, flight training and general aviation needs of the region.
The property sits on 400 acres of land off Sutton Street and home to a variety of uses.
The new administration building would be built on Terminal Road where the existing administration structure stands. The proposed project consists of the demolition of the existing building followed by the construction of a new, one-story 7,069 square-foot building on the same footprint.
The existing structure was built in 1954. The new structure would have space inside for the airport’s administration and two tenants, including a future restaurant. The overall construction cost is estimated at $5.6 million to $6.1 million.
The project would also reconfigure the parking lot with 46 spaces, five of which would be electric vehicle-ready spaces.
Lindsey DiTonne, an engineer and team leader with Boston-based McClure Engineering, presented the site plan review to the Planning Board on behalf of the Lawrence Municipal Airport Commission.
The proposed project will include an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pedestrian access and a concrete plaza area. Airport security fencing would remain outside with the concrete plaza. The flagpole will also be relocated to the front of the new building. Utility improvements and stormwater management system upgrades are proposed.
The concrete plaza will be between the new building and the airfield. It can be accessed by the restaurant tenant if they choose to offer outdoor dining. There is also a door on the backside as a way for people coming off aircrafts to enter the building.
The site plan review application is supplemented by requests for parking reductions and waivers of fiscal impact and community impact analyses, a traffic study and strict conformance to landscaping requirements.
The parking reduction requests seven less spaces for the administrative office space to seven spaces based on the airport’s operational characteristics. The proposed restaurant space would have 39 spaces. The existing building is 4,600 square feet and has a 28-space parking lot.
The plan is to repave and stripe the parking lot.
Board members expressed concern about a lack of lighting in the parking lot and safety for patrons heading to the area at later hours if a restaurant that moves in is open during the evening.
Phil Cox, of Cox Aviation, the project manager for the airport, said they need to be mindful of the air traffic controller to see the airport’s operations and tall light poles can create glare and different problems.
The airport’s hour for the control tower is 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., he said. The administration building is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but there will be a conversation with the restaurant tenant about possible dinner hours. Cox said there is a prospective tenant in the process of negotiating a lease.
Cox added it is better for the airport if there are later restaurant hours and for the restaurant to be a more viable business at the location.
The project is expected to go out to bid in the next few weeks. Construction will take 18 months, he said.
The board continued the hearing to an August meeting in which Enright is expected to have a draft decision ready for the board. She plans the stormwater review to be completed and the Fire Department to review the proposed emergency vehicle turnaround plan by then.
Enright also suggested the board have a condition attached to the project for the restaurant tenant to come before it and discuss hours of operation and any additional lighting it may need.
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