By Erin Tiernan — Erin@concordbridge.org
The chair of a group that advocates for towns surrounding Hanscom Field wants Massport to dump the developers behind a controversial expansion, but his colleagues aren’t on board.
“People want this thing to just go away,” Hanscom Field Advisory Commission Chairman Chris Eliot said of the project, which would build 17 new hangars — mostly for private jets — renovate another, and add 15,000 gallons of new fuel storage.
No confidence
“The Hanscom Field Advisory Commission suggests that Massport should disqualify Runway Reality Ventures (RRV) and North Airfield Ventures (NAV) from further consideration as lessees at Hanscom Airport,” Eliot wrote in his letter to Massport.
The companies proposing the expansion plan, North Airfield Ventures LLC and Runway Realty Ventures, were formed in response to a request for proposals.
Jeffrey Leerink, an executive at Silicon Valley Bank when it collapsed in 2023, and Norwood Cadillac dealership head Michael Argiros back the companies.
“In my opinion, the [Draft Environmental Impact Review] was just nonstop lies. What I wrote in that letter is fairly straightforward,” Eliot said.
“They’re car salesmen. Do you want to fly on an airline run by car salesmen, or do you want to live underneath the pattern of airplanes that are being maintained by car salesmen?”
Eliot said the letter was “a little bit of throwing everything at the wall” and meant to show Massport that the commission would not back down from advocating for residents’ interests.
Concord and the other three towns bordering the airport, Bedford, Lexington, and Lincoln, have publicly condemned the controversial project.
A spokesman for the developers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
‘Not comfortable’
Eliot’s colleagues disagreed with him on mailing Massport, and his proposed missive didn’t get off the ground.
“I’m really not comfortable with this letter or sending this letter. I don’t think it’s within our scope as a commission,” said Bedford Select Board and HFAC member Emily Mitchell.
“I don’t think it’s our place to be passing judgment, positive or negative, on prospective tenants,” she said. “I think we have followed the process that’s available to us regarding this potential development.”
A disappointment — but one with not much of a tangible impact, Eliot said.
“I would like to end it right here and right now,” he said. “At this point, I think they’ve been feeling very slapped down because they were very slapped down. My first strategy is just to ask Massport to pull the plug.”
Red flag?
Eliot pointed out that the company pinpointed to operate the hangars — Signature Aviation — is also under investigation for a March 26 fuel spill.
Massport spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan confirmed the spill, first emailing The Concord Bridge that it was “a spill of approx. 3 gallons, and nowhere near a drain.” She later said that “the event was less than 10 gallons, therefore not significant enough to be reported.”
Signature “responded immediately and notified Massport. The majority of the fuel was caught in drums,” Mehigan said. “It was properly cleaned and disposed of.”
But Eliot called Signature’s “carelessness,” as evidenced by the March spill, another red flag — especially since the proposed project would expand fuel storage capacity.
