Plans for New Parking Garage at County Airport

Officials in northern Westchester County are considering building a 50,000-square foot parking garage to service the Westchester County Airport.

The garage will hold up to 1,450 cars and will be built along New King Street in Armonk, just south of the airport off Route 684.  The building will be environmentally-friendly and will have a solar roof, said Erik Kaeyer of KG&D Architects in Mount Kisco, an architecture firm involved in the project.

Geoff Thompson, a representative for the project's engineering consultant company, said the garage will function electronically, meaning drivers will drop off their cars, take their keys and a computer system will park the cars. Thompson, of the AKRF consulting firm in White Plains, said the garage will maximize parking space.

"It's not your grandfather's garage," he said.

Since more flights have been added to the airport's schedule, the 1,100-space garage at the airport can't keep up with demand. Many county residents know not to drive to the airport because of the lack of parking. The website for the airport warns, "There is currently a shortage of long-term parking. TRAVELERS URGED TO GET RIDES TO THE COUNTY AIRPORT." 

"The need for additional parking at the airport is not a mystery to anyone," Thompson said.

Jan Endresen, the president of Aerotech World Trade Corporation, a distributor of parts for commercial and military airplanes,  proposed the idea to build a new parking garage on an existing property he owns on New King Street.

Endresen said the idea came to him about three years ago when he noticed that parking at the airport was near to non-existent.

"[Before that] you could go to the airport and have lunch and park relatively easily," Endresen said.

He said he listened to people, read the newspapers and decided the airport needed a  new parking area. He went to the Town of North Castle and suggested they use his property – 11 New King Street – to build a garage.

"Giving people the option to park themselves, drive themselves, which they can do at any other airport in the country, makes some sense," Endresen said.

However, some local environmentalists have concerns about the project because of its proximity to the Kensico Reservoir and various wetlands.

The project will require increasing the building space at the site by about 40,000-square feet. Some environmentalists worry that will endanger the wetlands and public drinking water.

However, Thompson said the new facility will not interfere with the wetlands, which he described as "minor" wetlands. He said it will be more environmentally-friendly than the current building at the site.

Thompson said the project will feature two state of the art retention ponds, which will improve the gathering and treatment of rain water.

"I think it can be done in a totally environmentally-sound manner," Thompson said.

 But Carolyn Cunningham with the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County [FCWC] said she worries that the new garage will end up doing environmental damage.

"Sometimes engineering plans don't always work out the way they're supposed to," Cunningham said.

Cunningham said she's also concerned that increasing parking capacity for the airport will increase traveler traffic to the airport. She said members of her organization don't want the county airport to become either a regional airport or like La Guardia, one of the city's most heavily-trafficked airports.

Cunningham said more convenient parking, "almost inevitably will result in a reason to pressure the usage of the airport."

Cunningham said FCWC wants to encourage people to take public transportation.

Many of those who support the project say, however, that the new garage will not increase traffic to the airport but may actually decrease it because many people driving to the airport have to  make multiple trips  to drop off and pick up travelers who are unable to park.

The Town of North Castle has not said whether it is in support of the project.

Town officials are currently reviewing written comments from the public about the proposed garage. After reviewing them, the board will add the comments  to an environmental impact statement. No word yet on when construction would begin, as the project is still in the planning stages.  

If you would like to know more about the project, you can read the minutes from the Town of North Castle November public hearing.