Stewart Airport and the Hudson Valley -- Finding the Right Balance

Growth caused by the planned expansion of Stewart International Airport will have profound impacts on the entire Hudson Valley.

Since the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey acquired Stewart International Airport in 2007, Scenic Hudson has been actively engaged in shaping future growth -- both at the facility and in the surrounding area -- while minimizing potential environmental impacts.

A 20-year investment in Stewart Scenic Hudson has been a key player in debates surrounding Stewart Airport for two decades. Beginning in 1989, we engaged in a major initiative to rein in the facility's expansion. During a hard-fought, nine-year campaign, we worked with other concerned citizens and organizations to win permanent protection of 6,200 acres of buffer lands surrounding the airport (now Stewart State Forest), and tackled critical noise and air-quality impacts. See this timeline for complete details.

Many of the most important landscapes we've protected -- including Fishkill Ridge, Mount Beacon and the Beacon waterfront, Snake Hill, Plum Point on Newburgh Bay and iconic Storm King Mountain – are within a 10-mile radius of Stewart's runways.

Scenic Hudson's vision for redevelopment in and around Stewart has two main components. We'd like to see the facility itself become a world-recognized model and new standard for innovative thinking on environmentally sensitive carbon-negative airport design.

We believe Stewart can serve as a gateway to the Mid-Hudson Valley within the context of a regional airport, not the fourth downstate jetport initially articulated by Governor Spitzer. Download this regional context map (PDF, 844K) and this local area map (PDF, 2 MB) and to see existing centers and greenspaces and transportation networks.

If the right approach is taken, a thoughtfully sized and moderately expanded airport will bolster the region's economy and quality of life.

If the wrong approach is taken, it could lead to sprawl, traffic and pollution that would diminish people's enjoyment of the valley's scenic, recreational and historic treasures -- and reduce the economic boost we get from tourism.

Scenic Hudson believes this project will have far-reaching implications for the Hudson River corridor and much of the lower Hudson Valley for decades to come.

Striking a balance

The projected surge in air traffic to the New York metropolitan area -- up to 50 million additional passengers by 2025 -- is putting tremendous pressure on the Port Authority to increase capacity. With LaGuardia, JFK and Newark squeezed for space, Stewart's 2,000+ acres are seen as a "blank slate," with abundant opportunities for growth. Boasting one of America's longest runways, it could accommodate expanded freight shipments.

Scenic Hudson joins with others in the community who oppose transformation of Stewart into a "fourth jetport." The challenge is to determine where the tipping point lies in the tradeoff between more flights and jobs and more noise, smog and sprawl.

Scenic Hudson's goals for Stewart strike the right balance, promising considerable economic benefits while safeguarding natural resources that contribute immeasurably to our quality of life, health and prosperity. They include:

• Ensuring Stewart remains a robust, regional airport primarily serving as a gateway to the Mid-Hudson Valley.
• Supporting the Port Authority's vision of establishing Stewart as the world's first "carbon-negative" airport – yielding a net reduction in carbon emissions – and pushing for environmentally friendly design, construction and operations.
• Protecting the Hudson Valley's magnificent, carbon-absorbing landscapes as a way of offsetting increased emissions from the expanded airport.
• Concentrating growth at the airport, the City of Newburgh and its waterfront and not on farmland and other environmentally sensitive open space. Growth should reflect the principles of transit-oriented development (TOD), concentrating homes, shops and businesses within walking distance of mass-transit hubs. (See this statement to the Town of Montgomery that outlines the missed opportunity to incorporate other uses that contribute to economic development -- not solely light industry -- in their proposed economic development plan.)
• Guarding against deteriorated air and noise quality that would destroy the public's enjoyment of the region's majestic state parks and national historic sites. (See this demand study from the FAA Regional Air Service identifies proposed flight routes in the metropolitan area.
• Creating a mass-transit link between Stewart and Newburgh's Hudson River waterfront that becomes a catalyst for downtown Newburgh's revitalization.

For additional explanations of these goals, see this correspondence exchanged between Scenic Hudson and Port Authority Executive Directory Chris Ward in 2008. To read an op-ed by Scenic Hudson Senior Vice President Steve Rosenberg articulating our vision for Stewart, click here.

Experts lead Scenic Hudson's Stewart initiative Charles "Chuck" Houghton -- Scenic Hudson's Stewart Airport Project Director -- is spearheading our efforts to build strategic relationships with decision-makers and other stakeholders while developing strategies for broader engagement with communities surrounding the airport.

He brings a solid track record as former executive director of the Missouri-Illinois Bi-State Development Agency -- St. Louis's version of the Port Authority. Most recently he's served as CEO of the Electric Launch Company and director of Institutional Advancement at the Rensselaerville Institute. He's also held a variety of positions in the public and private sectors related to civic, cultural and economic development.

Expert planners in our Land Use Advocacy Team are working with Chuck to turn our visions for Stewart into reality.

Year one: We've made significant progress

Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward has noted that "the downturn in the economy provides the Port Authority and regional planning agencies the opportunity to plan and get [Stewart] right." Seizing this initiative, Scenic Hudson's experts have made important progress in pressing our agenda for the airport:

1. As a direct result of Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan's impetus, Gov. David Paterson's Smart Growth Cabinet has established a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) working group that has partnered with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on a package of incentives to support TOD throughout the MTA service area, explicitly including Stewart Airport.
2. The final report by the MTA Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability, released in January 2009, identifies Stewart as a priority for smart growth/transit-oriented development. Ned Sullivan chairs the commission's Smart Growth/TOD Subcommittee. (Download the final report via this link.)
3. We're in conversations with MTA long-range planners conducting an analysis of a public transit link between Stewart and downtown Newburgh and the city's riverfront. Ferry service to Beacon already connects travelers with Amtrak and Metro-North's Hudson line.
4. As a member of the Port Authority's Citizens Advisory Panel (CAP) for Stewart, Scenic Hudson Senior Vice President Steve Rosenberg led efforts to include regional land-use planning as part of its mission. Additional details about the need for citizen input can be found in this article. Specific opportunities for the CAP to be effective are outlined in this letter from Steve Rosenberg to Stewart International Airport General Manager, Diannae Ehler
5. The Port Authority's commitment to a carbon-negative airport is being coordinated with the green technology economic development initiative of the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation, with input from Ned Sullivan, an HVEDC board member. We've also been asked to provide input on strategies being developed to "green" Stewart's design and operations, decreasing its carbon footprint.
6. The Port Authority has announced in principle that it will purchase offsets as part of its commitment to a carbon negative airport (see this press release for details.) It also has indicated an initial willingness to consider land preservation as a source of carbon mitigation, potentially creating a new revenue source for land-protection. As part of our Saving the Land That Matters Most campaign, we're urging the Port Authority, the state, Orange County and other land trusts to develop a plan to conserve nearby lands meeting the state's highest standards for ecological and scenic values.
7. See our resources page for links to additional studies being conducted

The future: Turning our visions into reality

Scenic Hudson is working to ensure that Stewart International Airport evolves into the nation's first environmentally and economically sustainable and carbon-negative regional airport.

Our goals for Stewart support the Port Authority's vision to create a global hub for innovative thinking based on green technologies. As part of this strategy, the Port Authority is looking for a partner to help establish a seedbed for green technology for the aviation industry. The next year will be critical to ensure that the Port Authority's plans -- as well as the scale of operations defining Stewart as a regional airport -- are grounded in agreements for development that protect the natural and historic resources that define the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.

Scenic Hudson will continue to work with the Port Authority and other stakeholders to help shape the growth in and around Stewart International Airport. Based on this article reporting that they have reaffirmed their pledge of to invest $500 million at the airport, Scenic Hudson is confident the Port Authority is taking Stewart International Airport seriously. However, this article suggests that funding may be jeopardized due to the fiscal obligations for the World Trade Center in New York City.