Proposal to reclassify metro airports sets off debate

Worried that a new Metropolitan Council classification for small reliever airports could open the door for further expansion at Flying Cloud Airport, Eden Prairie city officials are lining up against the change.

Currently, the Met Council defines all small metro-area airports in Flying Cloud's size range as "minor" airports. In the future it wants to use two classifications: Minor I for three airports with runways shorter than 4,500 feet and Minor II for two airports with runways longer than 4,500 feet.

Flying Cloud and Anoka-Blaine Airport in Blaine would fall into the Minor II category.

The Met Council insists that the new designation merely would reflect current activity at the airports and would not drive expansion. But Eden Prairie's City Council unanimously opposes the change and is expected to adopt a resolution to that effect Monday.

Mayor Phil Young said the city doesn't have reason to believe that "the mere change of that definition" would lead to a change at Flying Cloud, but "it is not in our best interest to have uncertainty in definitions and have people believe that the change in definition by the Met Council might lead to an argument down the road that the airport could be further expanded and the runways further lengthened."

Vicki Pellar Price, a representative of the Zero Expansion residents group which has fought expansion at Flying Cloud, is sounding the alarm over the proposed change. She said putting aside the "bureaucratic jabber" at the Met Council, the "role change and Minor II status they're contemplating for Anoka and Flying Cloud Airport will result in one thing -- runways over 5,000 feet."

Flying Cloud Airport is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar runway expansion that will extend its north parallel runway by 300 feet to 3,900 feet and its south parallel runway by 1,220 feet to 5,000 feet. The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) expects the longer runways to attract more flights by larger planes to the airport, and Zero Expansion is concerned about an increase in airport noise.

Extending minor airport runways beyond 5,000 feet would require a change in the state law. The law now prohibits minor airports from being upgraded to intermediate airports by capping minor airport runways at 5,000 feet, said Met Council senior planner Chauncey Case.

The area's only intermediate reliever airport, defined by a runway of at least 6,000 feet, is the St. Paul Downtown Airport, also known as Holman Field, Case said.

The proposed definition change has come up in a review that will lead to an update of the airport chapter of the Met Council's Transportation Policy Plan next year, or possibly later, said council spokeswoman Bonnie Kollodge.

The exact runaway lengths for any given airport are not determined by the council's system plan but by the long-term plan for each individual airport. Those plans are developed by the MAC, Kollodge said.

From the MAC's standpoint, "a change in the current categories is not necessary," said spokesman Patrick Hogan. "If we have a need to expand an airport beyond a minor use airport, there is already a process in place where we can seek approval from the Met Council and the state Legislature."