Although it has yet to be resolved whether Green Airport will get a runway extension, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation has picked up the pace of its voluntary home acquisition program and expects to purchase 53 homes at a cost of $16 million by mid-March.

The 53 properties are a part of 188 homes RIAC has identified as eligible for acquisition based on projected noise contours for the year 2020. Homes eligible for the program fall within the 70 dbl or average decibel noise contour.

“What we are trying to do is between $10 million and $15 million a year,” RIAC President and CEO Kevin Dillon said last week. Previously, RIAC had budgeted about $5 million a year for the acquisition and home soundproofing program.

Dillon explained more Federal Aviation Administration funds have become available for the program since “most other sound programs have been completed at other commercial airports in our region, so we’re getting more money.”

Dillon projects the entire home acquisition program to cost $67 million, of which the FAA would pay for $55 million. The remainder is picked up by RIAC. He said the home acquisition program has been scheduled over seven phases and, assuming funds remain available, would be completed in 2015.

The homes currently targeted for acquisition are north and south of Green’s major runway – Runway 5-23 – which Dillon would like to see extended from 7,166 feet to 8,700 feet. The proposed extension would be to the south, requiring the realignment of Main Avenue and the acquisition of 10 homes.

But there is somewhat of a fly in the ointment.

The 53 properties now targeted are in the first two phases and were to have been completed along with an additional 12 houses in Phase 3.

RIAC put a hold on Phase 3 after the FAA shelved air traffic forecasts used for projecting the 2020 noise contours. In assessing RIAC’s proposal for a runway extension, the city has long argued the proposal is based on inflated forecasts. With the drop in air traffic over the past several years, Green’s traffic is falling below FAA forecasts.

Dillon expects the FAA will complete new forecasts by next month, which will enable continuation of the environmental impact statement (EIS) of the 8,700-foot runway option. If that’s the case, and the EIS process is completed on schedule, there could be a record of decision by the end of this year.

Dillon said the stepped up home acquisition includes homes currently within the 70-dbl contour as well as those projected to fall within the contour by 2020. But, with reduced levels of traffic, the contours are expected to shrink and fewer homes will be eligible for voluntary acquisition.

FAA Airport Division Manager LaVerne F. Reid said as much in October when she said the agency would take another look at forecasts. In a letter to the mayor, Reid wrote, “Based on a recent review of the preliminary EIS data, it appears the lower aviation forecasts will cause a change in the future noise contours. This will result in fewer homes falling inside the area of significant impact.”

The change in forecasts, Dillon says, “Is not going to change the need for the runway.” Dillon reasons that for airlines to operate efficiently from Green they need a runway enabling them to maximize load factors. Penalizing airlines to reduce passengers or cargo increases the cost of operating from Green, putting Rhode Island at a disadvantage in attracting increased service, he says.

Mayor Scott Avedisian looks at the home acquisition program from the perspective of its impact on the city.

“That means another 53 are coming off the tax roles. That’s a major problem,” he said.

He said that, according to a recent statewide study, 25 percent of all Warwick property is tax exempt. This includes not only the airport, but colleges, churches and other not-for-profit institutions. This places Warwick fourth in tax-exempt properties, behind Providence at 56 percent, Newport at 29 percent and Middletown at 28 percent. The municipality with the least tax-exempt property is Foster, with 3 percent.

The city’s principal planner, William DePasquale sees the stepped up acquisition program as a good thing for some people.

“If folks don’t want to wait around, it’s not a bad thing,” he said.

Apart from the loss of taxes, DePasquale notes that the acquisition of homes extends areas cleared of properties into new neighborhoods, thereby exposing them to increased noise and airport intrusion. What he said RIAC has failed to address is the loss of affordable housing in the city. He said that 91 percent of the homes being acquired under the program are affordable housing.

As for proceeding with the acquisition program, he concludes that RIAC is moving ahead, although impact studies of the proposed runway extension haven’t been completed and, quite obviously, the project hasn’t been approved.

According to RIAC, portions of the following streets are included in Phases 1 and 2 of the voluntary acquisition program:

Bellevue Avenue, Bingham Street, Christie Road, Cole Avenue, Fountain Avenue, Gertrude Avenue, Greeley Avenue, Groveland Avenue, Lydick Avenue, Plain Street, Smith Street, Summit Street, Sundance Street and Waycross Drive.