New Haven and East Haven must be compensated for the impact of the airport s presence. The authority believes that the two towns must receive 100 percent of the property taxes the towns would receive if the airport land and buildings were taxable. The surrounding residential, commercial and industrial neighborhoods need support from the state, an investment that will be recouped many times over in economic activity resulting from additional air service. One requirement for a longer runway is reclaiming some wetlands on airport property. The authority hopes to offset this wetlands loss by reclaiming other degraded wetlands.
Regional airports are analogous to interstate highway interchanges.
The economies of communities located near interchanges have prospered, while communities off the interstate network declined. Today, the same issue of connectivity to national markets centers on air connections. The region has the opportunity to tap into a burgeoning highway connecting secondary markets to major hubs via better air connections. While lengthening the runway is the first need, prior to that tasks must be undertaken just to maintain the current level of service at the airport. After these areas are constructed, the runway will remain 5,600 feet long with two 1,000-foot turf areas on either end.