While we appreciate all of the recent discussion surrounding the Portland International Jetport’s plans to add additional parking to serve the increase in passenger demand, we feel the need to set the record straight and explain that many of the alternative ideas suggested are not as viable as one may think.
It’s important to note the Jetport, which contributes $1.043 billion in economic impact to our region and is responsible for more than 8,000 jobs, hasn’t even submitted its site plan application yet for this project. We look forward to the process that lies ahead as we know that this review process is invaluable toward achieving a project that has been fully evaluated and satisfies the variety of goals the city is trying to achieve. The Jetport’s master plan, approved by the City Council in 2016, adopted zoning to accommodate future growth and anticipated these uses.
As we began looking into how best to respond to this increase in demand, we explored a wide variety of options to achieve the need for increased parking. The existing cellphone lot area is included and becomes part of this proposed parking project. The existing Pink Lot is bounded by wetlands and a Portland Water District easement, which limits the amount of expansion that can occur there. We have certainly reviewed alternatives to surface parking, and those reviews show that shuttle operations and additional pick up/drop off are less sustainable than locating parking within a walkable distance of the terminal. All aspects of the project, including landscaping and impacts to existing wooded areas, will be considered as part of the site plan review process.
This project only nets 350 spaces. We are building on top of the existing cellphone lot and the former Park & Jet lot that are already surface parking. This project updates the existing gravel Park & Jet lot to a landscaped and efficient self-park lot. The proposed project impacts approximately 3.5 wooded acres.
The balance of the project, nearly 5 acres, is cleared and/or already impervious land consisting of the former Park & Jet gravel parking lot, the existing cellphone lot, and land previously cleared by Park & Jet. Under this proposed parking project, the nearest residential dwelling unit is three-quarters of a football field away from any parking. If approved, this same distance will remain a wooded buffer when the project is complete.
In general, the city supports keeping as many trees in Portland as possible. The city arborist and the forestry division, as well as the sustainability office, actively work to increase the city’s tree canopy. With that said, there is always a balancing of priorities when considering removing trees. Sometimes city staff choose to remove trees for other city priorities such as housing, ADA accessibility, transportation — and even airport parking lots. These are questions that will be weighed during the planning review process, and the city’s arborist sits on that review panel for that very reason, so that the city is always considering the value of trees and how to reduce the impacts to them. We can work to expand the tree canopy in Portland and still remove certain trees to achieve other goals.
Lastly, the Jetport is always supportive of increased mass and public transportation options to get to and from the Jetport. I even sit on the board of the Greater Portland METRO for this very reason. Increasing bus routes in Portland is not going to solve the demand issue as the Jetport does not only serve the Greater Portland region — we serve the entire state of Maine as well as southern New Hampshire. We live in a large rural area, and for many the only viable form of transportation remains the automobile.
It is important that we maintain access for all through the prudent expansion of parking proposed by this plan and continued improvements to public transportation.
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