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Henry Ferris proposes State acquire Griswold AirportHenry Ferris, former president of Menunkatuck Audubon and current member of the Board of Directors has proposed that the State of Connecticut save the Griswold Airport property from development. Excerpts of his letter to the Land Acquisitions Department follow: Aug. 20, 2002 Madison’s Griswold Airport, at present a very lightly used airstrip, has been the subject of controversy for many years. However, recent zoning applications calling for intensive development of the site have focused attention anew on the considerable potential for damage to Hammonasset Beach State Park posed by such development. What follows is a proposal to address that ongoing threat. The airport is a 42-acre parcel directly adjacent to the Natural Area Preserve of Hammonasset Beach State Park. Of this, 32 acres are uplands and 10 are classified as tidal wetlands. The property has a common boundary with 400 acres of tidal salt marsh at the Natural Area Preserve, and 456 feet of frontage on the Hammonasset River. Hammonasset Beach State Park is one of the most visited birding areas in the State, and has been selected as one of Audubon’s Important Bird Areas in Connecticut. As is widely known, Hammonasset is the crown jewel in the State Park system. Besides its vast use by the beach going public, it is used by countless thousands of visitors for other recreational, scientific and educational purposes. It is also, arguably, the most important site in the State for scientific and environmental education. The now virtually undeveloped Griswold Airport site functions as an important buffer zone to the fragile salt marshes and, by extension, to the Hammonasset River and Long Island Sound itself. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has said the following about this area. “The intertidal mud flats at the mouth of the Hammonasset River are one of the largest and most exemplary natural wetland areas of this type in the State, and are important feeding areas for many shorebirds. The nearshore waters and sediments of this complex contain large concentrations of American oyster and are important spawning and nursery areas for winter flounder; this area is also significant for its high diversity of marine fishes. The rivers have important anadromous fish runs of sea-run brown trout, alewife, blueback herring, American shad, white perch and sea lamprey.” The preservation of the existing biological integrity of this unique ecosystem is of vital importance to the State of Connecticut. At least since 1988, the DEP has recognized the serious problems that potential development of the airport property pose for the nearby coastal marshes and their associated habitats. In her letter of July 13, 1988 to Madison First Selectman Horvath, Margaret Beauharnois states “Redevelopment of the airport property is significantly constrained by the location and nature of coastal resources on and adjacent to the site.” She further states that “…redevelopment of the airport should be carefully planned so that the level of intensity of development on site is not substantially increased.” Since then, there have been two applications for zoning amendments and two for special permits, all calling for extensive development projects that threatened the natural resources. In spite of these warnings, both zoning amendments were approved, and in 1997, in spite of DEP’s strong advice to the contrary the Madison Planning & Zoning Commission approved a Special exception Permit and CAM Permit for an industrial use where the buildings were located entirely in the coastal flood hazard area. Purely by chance, this project was never built. These occurrences are a dramatic demonstration of the risk to vital natural areas when the Planning and Zoning Commission administers the provisions of the Coastal Area Management Act. This responsibility is often taken lightly. Most recently, the airport site has been the subject of a Special Exception Permit application by Leyland Development LLC to build 192 housing units on the 32 upland acres immediately adjacent to the 400 acres of Natural Area Preserve. In the face of negative assessments of its application from the DEP, the Kings Mark ERT and numerous others, the developer has withdrawn its current application. However, Leyland states it intends to return with a modified version. Even if Leyland does not come back, proposals from other developers will surely follow. The lure of large profits from the development of near shoreline property is so great that the airport site will always remain the target for large building projects. In the past, the State has declined opportunities to purchase the airport property. The main reason given was the lack of an easy direct connection with Hammonasset Beach State Park. This rationale now seems highly outdated. It has become clear that the real value of the airport lies in its undeveloped condition as a protective buffer to the salt marshes and estuary at the Park, and the other natural resources in the area. It is precisely the development of the airport itself that threatens these resources. In his testimony at the recent Planning and Zoning hearings on the Leyland application, Dr. Richard Orson, Certified Senior Ecologist and Professional Wetland Scientist, stated that due to continuing rising sea levels, the outer edge of the marsh system is eroding landward and is transgressing towards the airport at a relatively fast rate. Once it reaches the development site, the advancing habitat will be stopped from moving any further. This means that, “the outer edge of the marsh system will continue to erode landward while the upper border nearest the development will be stalled. The result will be a reduction in wetland area and a diminishing of the habitat as the leading edge continues to transgress and the upper border remains in place.” Only if left undeveloped, can the airport continue to absorb the advancing border of the marsh habitat. Also on a positive note, National Audubon has pointed out that the upland portions of the airport have enormous potential value as grasslands. Coastal grasslands are rare in Connecticut. If properly managed, the airport could provide significant breeding grounds for several bird species, including some of State special concern and some that are now being displaced by development elsewhere in the State. The purchase of the Griswold Airport is not really about money or old policies. It is about protecting these natural resources while there is still the chance to do so. It is also a rare opportunity to not only enhance and protect an irreplaceable salt marsh habitat of enormous value to the public, but also to create a new and badly needed ecosystem on the upland area of the airport itself. In December 2000, The National Audubon Society and the Menunkatuck Audubon Society jointly filed an application with the DEP calling for the State purchase of the Griswold Airport under Connecticut’s Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Program (attached). In response, on February 15, 2001 Margaret Welch of the Office of Long Island Sound Programs wrote a memo to Elizabeth Varhue of the Land Acquisition Dept. (attached) in which she strongly recommended acquisition of the Griswold Airport for numerous reasons. Among these are: (a) the capacity of the site to buffer the adjacent Natural Area Preserve; (b) the site would serve several important coastal management purposes; (c) the site would protect sensitive coastal resources and the site would provide increased public access to tidal and coastal waters; and finally, (d) the site could provide future uses as coastal grasslands. It would now seem time to move on this important matter while there is a lull in the battle. Leyland Development LLC currently holds a purchase option on the property. However, its chances of actually building the project have dimmed considerably. The DEP (OLISP) and the ERT have recommended conditions that will be difficult for Leyland to meet and still retain its original concept of a “Traditional Neighborhood Development,” a concept that Leyland seems to view largely as highly dense housing. In addition, the Attorney General has declared his intention to take legal action if the Planning and Zoning Commission approves even a modified version. There is also an action in court by SGOD, a local citizen’s group that is appealing the original zoning amendment approved in August 2001. This action appears very promising. Further still, there were several parties who intervened in Leyland’s application under Connecticut’s Environmental Protection Act, including the Connecticut Fund for the Environment whose own expert witness—a former, long serving DEP OLISP Coastal Program’s Division Manager—further verified the great need to protect these crucial natural resources from such development. Five additional parties intervened as well, including Save The Sound Inc. These interveners would also be expected to participate in legal action against a zoning approval of a modified application by Leyland. All this may persuade Leyland to favor some agreement leading to a release of their purchase option. The option price is reputed to be between 2.5 and 3.5 million dollars, with a monthly option fee of $3,500 dollars. Indeed, now is probably the ideal time for the State to step in and acquire this property, which will otherwise remain a permanent source of future worry and frustration to all who are concerned with the protection of the tidal wetlands, the Hammonasset River Estuary, and Long Island Sound. Clearly the ideal solution to permanently removing the threat that development of this site poses to our natural resources is to purchase the entire airport property as an open space buffer. However, there may be other less costly, alternatives that could accomplish the goal of protecting these resources. The 42 acre airport site shares roughly 2800 feet of common boundary with the Natural Area Preserve. If we assume that a 300 foot buffer around all adjoining wetlands would be adequate to their protection then this would result in about 20 acres of upland plus the 10 acres of tidal wetlands on the site, or a total of about 30 acres that would need to be purchased, rather than the full 42 acre property. If necessary, the State could at least partially offset the cost of purchase by selling the 3 lots now owned by the State of Connecticut that lie along the south side of Rte. 1 immediately adjacent to the airport... Taken together, these approximately 10 acres of State owned land are contiguous to, or just across Rte. 1 from, existing commercial uses... They currently perform no environmental function other than as grassy strips alongside Rte.1. None are contiguous to Hammonasset Beach State Park. The Town of Madison is always receptive to enhancing its tax base and would undoubtedly cooperate in rezoning these lots to commercial uses, thus greatly enhancing their sale value by the State to an entity wishing to further develop the area commercially. There has been considerable recent commercial development in this area. These State owned lots could also be joined to the approximately 10 remaining upland acres of the airport to create a parcel of approximately 20 acres of commercially available land... The important thing to bear in
mind is that the Griswold Airport, because of
its geographical location, is a potential dagger
pointed at the heart of the Natural Area Preserve,
the Hammonasset River, and Long Island Sound.
The airport will remain a threat to the biological
integrity of these irreplaceable natural resources
until it is preserved forever as a vital part
of our natural heritage. Sincerely, Henry Ferris
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