Answers Needed Before HLRA Can Finalize Base Reuse

Before the debate over an airport versus no airport at the air base can be settled once and for all, the Horsham Land Reuse Authority needs some answers.

Questions have arisen from each of the – including two with interests in an airport – that submitted so-called notices of interest for portions of the 892-acre parcel up for grabs, according to HLRA Executive Director Mike McGee. The plan is to send letters to applicants requesting additional information, McGee said, adding that applicants would have three weeks to respond.

Touring the base and getting a “good grasp” of existing conditions is vital, McGee said. Officials have said that some of the buildings are already dilapidated and could deteriorate beyond the value of fixing within the next few years until the site is redeveloped.

“A number of the applicants have asked for buildings and properties that they’ve never been to,” he said. “It’s important that they visit the site.”

McGee said the additional information should be supplied by mid-June, about the same time as the next HLRA board meeting on June 15. Once all applicant questions are answered, the board can determine which, if any, of the applications – ranging from daycare centers, day camps, a retirement community, homeless and veterans housing to parks, roads, schools and an airport – could be included in the final redevelopment plan. Three potential reuse options will be considered at the HLRA’s July 27 meeting.

But, before options can be rolled into an at least semi-final plan, the public has another opportunity to weigh in on what they would like to see on the base property. HLRA consultant RKG Associates is holding a community planning charrette on June 10-11 in Horsham’s community center.

During a teleconference at the HLRA’s board meeting Wednesday, VP and Principal Russell Archambault of RKG Associates said June 10 would feature “two separate, but identical sessions” (from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.) aimed at getting a better idea of what the public wants.

“We’re not creating the land plan and we’re not creating the three alternatives at this point. What we’re trying to do is find the elements that go into that plan,” Archambault said. “This gives us the opportunity to put the flesh on the bone.”

The way to do that, he said, is through breakout sessions; sharing photos illustrating major land use examples from communities that have redeveloped following a base closure; reviewing the site’s pros and cons; and discussing, defining various land use options.

“It’s a collaborative process led by the consultant team,” Archambault said. “We’re going to be working on solving problems that meet the attention of the public.”

On June 11, Archambault said RKG would assemble at 8 a.m. to “make sense” of what was discussed the day prior. While public interaction would be minimal, he said the public is invited to stop by to “watch this process unfold” through noon.

• 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. the team would discuss land use definitions, summarize discussion issues and planning principles.
• 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. they will review site factors, including adjacent land uses.
• 10 a.m. to noon, RKG would prepare a draft bubble detailing an internal road network, site constraints, land use options, vehicle and pedestrian access and green space/open space.

The public is not permitted to be on hand from noon to 4 p.m. on June 11 while RKG puts together a power point presentation and refines a sketch. But, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., the community is invited for a planning team presentation and question and answer session.

Archambault said the weekend sessions allow residents to “be planners themselves.”

And, whether the community as a whole is for or against an airport, Archambault said both options must be discussed during the weekend’s breakout sessions.

“Those are things you would want to work out and talk about,” Archambault said of how other uses could complement each option. “That may mean that some uses just don’t fit and they would have to fall out.” 

Robert Rockmaker, executive director of the Aviation Council of Pennsylvania, provided two memos to the HLRA board and encouraged them to contact other organizations and facilities to learn more about a public use airport, which he said would create “300 great jobs for your community.”

Rockmaker also said that confusion and misinformation has spread throughout the process.

“The FAA does not run airports. They do not set the policy for the airport,” Rockmaker said. “The FAA does not tell a community that ‘you’re going to have FedEx, or you’re going to have Delta.’ ”

Horsham resident Ken Plunkett, who has asked the HLRA for several months to request an FAA study, finally got an answer Wednesday.

McGee said the FAA will not provide grant money for an installation study “unless and until the redevelopment plan is done and it incorporates an airport.”

If an when that happens, McGee said the FAA would fund 95 percent of the grant, with the difference being split between the state and the applicant.

“They will not give grant money to the LRA,” McGee said.