Residents quiz candidates on airport closure

Concerns regarding the possible closure of the University-owned Horace Williams Airport took flight recently when a group of citizens formally asked candidates to voice their opinions before the upcoming town elections.

Fred Black, co-author of a letter addressed to the Chapel Hill Town Council, Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Board of Education, made it clear he felt the issue should have been more prominent in the candidates' campaigns.

"We heard more about pilots and their very organized lobbying effort directed toward trying to influence the state legislature," he said.

"With elections one month away, we felt that no candidate or elected officials took a position. It's not that there is anything new about the issue - what is new is the campaign. We think candidates should say where they stand."

Completion of Carolina North, the University's proposed satellite campus at the Horace Williams Tract off of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is projected to take 50 to 70 years, but those plans will encounter some turbulence if the airport remains open.

"The airport should be closed for a variety of reasons," said Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development.

"The University intended to close the airport before Carolina North was planned. Carolina North is critically important to the future of the University as a research institution and to continue to help Carolina to grow."

The airport, located on a portion of the tract, transports doctors from the Area Health Education Centers program across the state to treat patients and offers a landing spot for other private planes.

"The health project that uses the airport is also very important to the University," Waldrop said, adding that the program likely will move to Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

"A study is being conducted indicating that RDU airport will meet the program's needs," Waldrop said.

But Black said pilots are not happy about the potential move.

"Pilots think an airport is a critical part of the local community and don't want to see it closed," he said.

Local pilots, with the help of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, organized an effort to keep the airport open.

The association fights to keep airports open nationwide.

Chris Hudson, the mid-Atlantic representative for AOPA working with the preservation of Horace Williams stressed the importance of having an airport in a community.

"We are working to make sure the (N.C.) House and Senate members understand the impact on the transportation system that would result if Horace Williams was closed," Hudson said.

"It puts a serious strain on the North Carolina national airport system that would have to compensate for the loss."

AOPA works to educate people who don't necessarily use the airport regularly on the value of a transportation hub.

"People don't perceive it as a desirable neighbor," he said. "But if you use it, it becomes a necessity.

"We just want to maintain the same use (Horace Williams) has had historically and preserve what it brings to the community."

Town officials and candidates offered multiple solutions.

Town Council candidate Laurin Easthom said she advocates for the airport's closure in order to protect the environmentally sensitive area of the tract and to create additional security in the area.

But Council member Cam Hill said building Carolina North while still keeping the airport open is a bit excessive.

"As a private citizen and a citizen of North Carolina, I'm not convinced that Carolina North is a necessity," Hill said.

"The idea of building terrifies me. I think in 20 years we would rather have an airport and no Carolina North. The problem with having Carolina North and the airport is that the project will take up more area, which isn't what I want."

Though the land and airport are owned by the University, the town still works to have influence with the project.

"The town is the regulator here," Hill said.

"We want to do the best thing for the town. The University ultimately makes the decisions, but we can say what we'd like to see and react to their decisions."

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.