This article by Madeline Clark was published by the Other Paper on Feb. 20.
The Burlington International Airport and developer DEW Corporation must alter plans on a proposed airport hotel following a final objection notice sent by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week.
The objection follows an FAA airspace obstruction analysis, which revealed the height of the proposed building would interfere with the airport’s radar system.
“It was completely unexpected and unknown,” said Nic Longo, the airport’s deputy director of aviation. “It was very difficult to hear that because that was our last permit … [the developers] were hoping to start construction in the spring.”
The hotel was originally designed as a five-story, 102-unit Fairfield by Marriott, slated for a green space south of the airport’s parking garage.
Developers planned to break ground on the building next month, once all permits were approved, according to Pete Kelley, vice president of business development at DEW Corporation.
Now, the airport and DEW Corporation must change their plans. The two parties intend to submit a new proposal that calls for a modified version of the former hotel design to be situated on a lot north of the airport’s parking garage.
Developers were working to quickly resubmit necessary permits including a South Burlington zoning permit for the new site.
“We have to go through the permit process again,” Kelley said, adding that means there are some cost duplications. “But it looks a bit streamlined.”
The airport and developers believe that groundbreaking could take place sometime this summer, possibly in June or July, Kelley said.
“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” Longo said of the change-up.
The new site allows for a rectangular building configuration with a few additional rooms, bringing the hotel’s count to 110-units. It would be built on an existing parking lot, meaning it wouldn’t need the additional impervious surface and stormwater work the former site required, Kelley said.
The proposed lot currently serves as parking for oversized vehicles. But accommodations for large vehicles could be moved to other spaces on the property, Longo said.
“It’s a better site from logistics and it allows us to do a more standard hotel,” Kelley said. But, he added, the hotel loses some of the visibility afforded by the southern lot near the airport’s entrance.
Developers will present their project to the city on Tuesday, March 17, according to Kelley.
“We are figuring out a path forward,” Longo added. “Nobody’s jumping for joy that this happened,” Longo said. “But we feel we are moving in the right direction.”
As for traffic concerns in the residential neighborhoods that surround the airport, Kelley said that airport hotels add a fraction of the traffic a traditional hotel would. Many of the guests would be individuals who are flying in and out of the airport.
“It will be an insignificant amount of additional traffic,” Kelley said.