Weighing in on Republic Airport's future

Dozens of residents, pilots and business owners visited and gave opinions in Wednesday at a Republic Airport open house on a "vision plan" officials say will guide future airport development.

Placards in the main terminal summed up some of the ideas that have emerged so far: Residents are concerned about noise and worried that airport expansion could make it worse. Meanwhile, pilots want improved utilities and more hangar space.

"It's nice to see that they're taking our input into account," said Karen Williams, a Farmingdale resident and president of the Woodland Civic Association. On her wish list: a more robust noise abatement program and a commitment to keep commercial and cargo flights out of the East Farmingdale airport.

Steve Cannistra, an electronics technician from North Massapequa who flies a Cessna out of Republic, said he was worried that recreational pilots like him were being pushed out. "They give preferential treatment to jet traffic," he said.

Airport manager Mike Geiger denied that, saying, "This airport is driven by the light [plane] guys. . . . There's no preferential treatment that I know of."

Nancy Schliwka, who moved to East Farmingdale 16 years ago when the airport was relatively small, said, "Now they're bringing bigger and more planes that sometimes make quite a lot of noise." She said she also worried about the effects of jet fumes on her two children.

The open house was the culmination of a three-year push for public input that included 38 meetings with civic, business and aviation groups, and hundreds more with individuals.

Airport officials say they hope to finish the vision plan by the end of the year, covering everything from airport infrastructure and aviation logistics to attracting new businesses. They said they will draw on public comment and expert analysis to create several different visions of a future Republic and ultimately combine them into a document similar to a master plan.

Officials said last week they hope it will be ready by year's end; new development at the airport could begin by 2013.

The 526-acre site has operated as a private airfield or public airport since the 1920s. Republic is responsible for 1,384 jobs and $214 million in annual economic activity, according to airport officials.