Airport Plan Dealt Major Setback by Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission-July 12, 1979

This ruling effectively halted the $906,000 airport rehabilitation project, a long-debated package that included the critical reconstruction of runways and taxiways. The MAC, which was chaired by Norwood resident Malcolm Woronoff, cited an insufficiency of technical data as the primary reason for denying the noise limits on jet and propeller planes, which had been meticulously negotiated over several months between local aviation officials, pilots, and the citizen-led Stop Norwood Airport Growth (SNAG) group.

The rejection came after the Norwood town meeting had previously stipulated, at the request of the local airport commission, that funds for the improvement project would not be authorized unless the MAC formally approved the noise abatement package. By linking the improvement project—which both residents and pilots agreed was necessary for safety—to the noise restrictions, local officials had hoped to force state intervention. However, the five-member MAC, predominantly appointed by the pro-aviation King administration, perceived this move as an ultimatum. “What you’ve presented to us today really amounts to an ultimatum,” noted MAC member Anne B. Baddour during the hearing, though she requested the rejection be softened to allow for future reconsideration.

The MAC staff, including former aeronautics director Crocker Snow, advised that the proposed 87-decibel rule would not provide any appreciable noise reduction. Snow, who had a long-standing history of friction with Norwood citizen-activists, cautioned the commission against making an “irreversible” decision that could set a problematic state precedent. Joseph Garside, president of Wiggins Airways at Norwood and co-chairman of the citizen task force, argued in vain that the rule should be viewed as an experimental project, subject to review after nine months of monitoring.

The failure of the proposal left Norwood officials at a crossroads. John F. Rockett, chairman of the Norwood Airport Commission, stated that the decision left them with few alternatives, the most likely being an attempt to separate the regulatory issues from the construction project in a future town meeting vote. The ongoing controversy, which had evolved from neighborhood noise complaints to regional expansion concerns, underscored the deep-seated divisions regarding the role and scale of the airport in the community. As the commission planned to meet the following week, the prospect of an improved runway system remained in jeopardy, leaving the town to navigate a complex path forward between state

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger