May 28—DANVERS — A plan to build a football field-sized hangar at Beverly Airport has been put on hold over concerns about its impact on flooding in the adjacent neighborhood.
The hangar would be built on the Danvers side of the airport and be large enough to house two jets. But neighbors said they are worried that rain runoff from the structure would exacerbate existing flooding problems in their neighborhood.
Mark Lentine of Old Burley Street said the area already floods during significant rainstorms.
"I can take my canoe across the street and go canoeing for the day," he told the Danvers Conservation Commission.
The hangar is being proposed by FlightLevel Aviation, the airport's fixed-base operator that provides services such as fuel, parking and hangar space.
Robert Laurence of FlightLevel Aviation said Beverly Airport does not have adequate hangar space. When corporate jets deliver clients to the airport now, they have to fly to another local airport that has hangar space, then fly back to Beverly the next day or later to pick up the client.
The new hangar would actually cut down on the number of flights and reduce greenhouse gas emissions because the jets could park at Beverly Airport rather than fly elsewhere and back, he said.
"It will make it more efficient in many ways," Laurence said.
The hangar would be 135 feet wide, 296 feet long and 40 feet high, he said.
The Conservation Commission voted 2-1 at its May 9 meeting to deny a permit for the hangar because of concerns over increased storm water volume coming off the site. Danvers Planning Director Brian Szekely said FlightLevel will reapply to the Conservation Commission with a revised design at some point soon.
Many residents are opposed to the hanger because it is so large, said William Kossowan, one of two Danvers representatives on the Beverly Airport Commission.
"It's controversial to say the least," he said. "I'm kind of torn down the middle because it's good for the airport to grow. But I'm not 100% sure this fits. It's a very imposing structure."
The Conversation Commission meeting that neighbors won't be able to see the hangar from their homes, Laurence said.
"You don't see anything except the trees," he said.
The hangar is part of a larger expansion at Beverly Airport, including a plan to lengthen its primary runway, Danvers resident Mark Zuberek said.
"If they expand the runway by 300 feet in each direction," he said, "that means this is becoming a jet-port and we cannot handle that in our neighborhoods."
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
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