Chatham Municipal Airport Runway to Close for 42-Day Tree Removal Project Starting Nov. 30

Tree trimming and removal on Chatham Municipal Airport property in Chatham, Massachusetts, begins Nov. 30, and the runway will be closed while the work is under way. The long-planned obstruction removal project is expected to take 42 days, with a pause during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Matt Caron of Gale Associates, the airport commission's consulting engineers, said the runway must be closed because the work is taking place within the approaches.

The airport commission says trees have grown into the airspace in the takeoff and landing zones of the runway, creating a safety hazard, and that Federal Aviation Administration regulations and the town's own bylaws require trees deemed obstructions to be trimmed or removed. Trees will be selectively removed or trimmed, not clearcut. Critics have argued the work is unnecessary and would infringe on private property rights.

The total work area covers about 6.5 acres. Conservation commission hearings covered work around wetlands on the 97-acre airport property, and the conservation commission set strict criteria for selective tree removal within a 2.8-acre area, including near a vernal pool, where roughly 200 trees are involved. The commission has budgeted $15,000 for the town's tree fund to replace trees at another location. The final number of trees removed or trimmed will depend on ground conditions once contractor Lucianos Excavation of Taunton begins work.

Work on private property, mostly along Agnes Way at the northeast end of the runway, will be delayed. Airport Commission Chair Huntley Harrison said it has been four years since the initial obstruction study and the areas need to be reassessed, scheduled for spring; more trees may need attention than in 2022. The work starting next month includes two private parcels at the southwestern end of the runway where owners have given permission: the Ocean State Job Lot property and land at 1652 Main St.

The project costs $615,990: $221,670 from the federal government, $311,955 from the state and $82,365 from the town. Harrison said the closure comes at a traditionally slow time of year. The airport discourages landings and takeoffs before 7 a.m., but exceptions may be handled case by case during the closure, and the commission will notify charter flight companies. Vice chair Michael Cortese agreed operations are quite low at that time. Upgrades to the airport's navigational aids will be done concurrently to take advantage of the closure, by Cullen Electrical Contractors.

Obstruction clearing is a recurring cost of operating a small public-use airport: vegetation keeps growing into approach surfaces, and the airport sponsor is expected to keep those surfaces clear under federal rules. Because the runway cannot stay open while crews work inside the approaches, sponsors typically schedule the closure for the slowest part of the year and stack other work, such as navigational aid upgrades, into the same window so the airfield is shut only once.

The funding split here, with federal and state money covering most of the $615,990 and the town paying a minority share, reflects how this kind of safety work is usually financed at municipal airports. That structure also gives sponsors an incentive to act on obstruction findings rather than leave them open. The dispute over private property shows the other side: where trees sit on land the airport does not control, owner permission or a separate process sets the pace, which is why the Agnes Way parcels wait until spring.

The spring reassessment is the next milestone to follow. Its result will show how many more trees fall within the approaches than in the 2022 study and whether a second closure or a different approach to private parcels follows.