Westerly — The Rhode Island Airport Corp. has begun the process of temporarily shortening the landing distance for two runways at Westerly State Airport.

According to a Jan. 3 letter from RIAC Corporate Counsel Annette P. Jacques to Westerly Town Manager Derrik Kennedy, the landing distance is being shortened from 3,960 to 3,370 feet on Runway 14, and from 4,010 to 3,635 feet on Runway 7.

The term used is "threshold displacement," which means runway markings are being altered to indicate to pilots they cannot land at the beginning of the runway, but farther back.

The markings are being moved because trees near the airport have grown tall enough to obstruct runway approaches. Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Luis Matos in February issued a preliminary injunction halting the removal of trees, a victory for five property owners who filed a lawsuit against RIAC and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

Jacques wrote that "we must relocate threshold(s) immediately because the legal process necessary to secure the avigation easements will likely take a minimum of one year to resolve."

An avigation easement protects airspace above a certain height on a property and imposes land use restrictions.

The letter stated the completion of shortening the landing distance for Runway 7 by 375 feet and Runway 14 by 590 feet "is dependent on the temperature and will be performed as soon as the weather permits."

The recommendations came from Stantec Consulting Services, which RIAC retained to evaluate airspace obstructions to the approaches for all four runway ends at the airport.

The memo did not recommend changing markings, or thresholds, for runways 25 or 32, but it does say it is possible trees could "grow to a point of becoming a penetration" for Runway 25.

The report recommends that additional aerial surveying be done as soon as possible in the spring, for a re-evaluation with current data.

It acknowledges that navigational aids and visual aids for Runway 7 "will be required to be deactivated once the threshold is displaced," allowing for only visual approaches and not instrument approaches, which occur in cloudy conditions or poor weather.

This was one of the concerns Bill Bendokas, owner of New England Airlines, expressed last week about the impact of runway displacement.

Business owners have also expressed concern that some pilots will not be comfortable flying into Westerly State Airport with a shorter landing distance, and that if they opt to land elsewhere, it would negatively impact businesses that provide aircraft maintenance, sales and fuel.

Lisa Konicki, president of the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday that the displacement is "disheartening to the business community" but said safety must come first, and RIAC would not be taking these measures unless they were absolutely necessary.

Mark Simmons, owner of Simmons Aviation, feels there could also be safety concerns with shortening runways.

"I think it's the first step to ultimately closing the airport," he said, "because if they're not able to trim the trees, the trees continue to grow higher every year, and they'll have to reassess the approach path and shorten them again."

e.moser@theday.com