On a recent weekday afternoon, traffic was heavy at the intersection of Airport and Post roads in Warwick. Cars filtered through the three-way traffic lights; others were stacked up in the two westbound lanes of Airport Road. Shoppers turned in and out of Airport Plaza, the 120,000-square-foot shopping center that anchors the intersection.
Nearby, inside Joseph David Big & Tall, which is set back just a few feet from Airport Road, outdoor noise was muted. Owner Joseph Scianna, who has run the store since 1987, stood at the central counter – wearing a tie, his thinning hair slicked back – unpacking stock and contemplating what will become of his livelihood.
If the preferred expansion plan for T.F. Green Airport is approved, his property may be taken or, perhaps worse, left without the traffic that now runs by his shop. Part of the plan, formally called “B4” by the R.I. Airport Corporation (RIAC) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials, would extend the safety zone for the crosswind runway, meaning the intersection of Post and Airport roads would have to be moved to the north. That would leave his business at a dead end.
The expansion would require the FAA and RIAC to acquire 10 business properties and one residential property, RIAC President and CEO Kevin A. Dillon said in an interview. But local business owners don’t know which properties will be involved. And a formal discussion can’t start until the plan is official, Dillon said.
The FAA has said it will likely release a final environmental impact statement early in 2010, followed by a decision next spring on whether to approve the expansion plan.
Scianna, who can see the runway from his storefront, thinks his property will be taken but tries not to think too much about what will happen until the plan is finalized.
“How far they come this way is still in question,” he said. “I have not been given any definitive date when the property is going to be taken. And, as of now, nobody has contacted me.”
Many of the businesses that are close enough to the airport to be adversely affected by the expansion are, like Joseph David Big & Tall, trying to operate as they normally would, Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Lauren E.I. Slocum said recently.
FAA New England Region Environmental Program Manager Richard Doucette said in an e-mail that the formal discussion about property acquisitions doesn’t usually begin this early in the airport-expansion process, because there hasn’t been an official “Record of Decision” from the FAA.
Until that’s issued, federal law “requires that we keep an open mind” about the plan, Doucette said.
“We do respond to inquiries from residents and business owners,” Doucette said. “I have spoken to a few business owners who have contacted me, to describe where we are in the process and how they might be affected.”
He added, “But we can not yet say for sure what the exact impacts will be.”
In a telephone interview, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian added that there are many businesses near the intersection that won’t be acquired, but will still be adversely affected.
If, for example, if the proposed expansion was complete, a shopper traveling west on Airport Road and wanting to go to Airport Liquors or Staples wouldn’t be able to just turn into Airport Plaza, Avedisian said. They would have to head to the new intersection – which would be just north of Burger King on Post Road – then turn onto Post Road and have to cross traffic to get into Airport Plaza.
“It basically kills the airport shopping center,” Avedisian said. “They’ll basically only have access on one road from now on. That is a major problem.”
Avedisian added, “Those businesses have a major claim to suggest that they’re going to loose a lot of business. … Several of those owners have been in to talk with us to say, ‘We will no longer have frontage, what are we going to do with our property?’”
Scianna’s store is also dependent on Airport Road. If the road were made into a dead end, “I think it would definitely disrupt business,” he said.
For now, many of the stores in the area are trying to strike a balance, Slocum said. They’re investing enough in their businesses and properties to stay viable, but are being cautious not to invest too much.
Slocum’s office has been helping some businesses relocate and talking with others about what might happen if the FAA-approved plan moves forward. “They’re asking what the future will bring,” she said. “How should I re-create myself? What can I do differently? So it also creates an opportunity.”
There are upsides to local businesses, too, Slocum acknowledged. The expansion will add or secure jobs for some construction companies, for example.
For those who must move or sell their properties, however, “there is certainly concern,” Slocum said. “But those who have been around know to continue being a viable business entity until someone tells them it’s final.”
At Joseph David Big & Tall, which is next to a vacant storefront, two doors down from a nightclub and in front of J&T Auto Sales, Scianna understands the need to stay viable until a decision is made.
“This has been going on for years,” he said of the uncertainty, unloading T-shirt bundles out of a cardboard box. “It’s just a matter of time” before the airport expands. •
