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Committee backs Jetport Phase 3 design funding, despite environmental concerns and calls for alternatives
Summary
The committee voted to send a request for Phase 3 parking-garage design funding to the full council after the airport director downsized the surface lot and outlined a $1.5M design request and $8.6M surface-lot package; public commenters urged off-site parking, shuttles and natural-resources review for a nearby vernal pool (LD 497).
Paul Bradbury, Airport Director, presented a design-and-construction request for the Portland International Jetport. Bradbury said 2025 was an "exceptional" year and outlined plans for an apron rehabilitation and a phased project to reconstruct 30-year-old apron panels and add parking capacity. For parking specifically, Bradbury presented a revised plan that reduces the surface-lot footprint, shifts battery storage east, preserves vegetated and isolated wetland areas and proposes a 537-space self-park facility north of the existing garage.
Bradbury asked for $1,500,000 in design funding to begin Phase 3 of the parking garage expansion and said staff will pursue a first-reading appropriation at the full council in April. He noted the net increase in spaces would be roughly 200 over current gravel-lot capacity; if every seat were full year-round at $15 per day, the full utilization revenue ceiling would be just under $1.1 million annually.
Public comment included calls for alternatives to adding surface parking. Joey Burnell, speaking for a coalition of local environmental and transit groups, said the airport responded to prior feedback by down-sizing the surface lot and adding design funding for a garage but urged the city to pursue better use of existing off-site lots, shuttles and demand pricing. Carter Waldron raised concerns about a nearby vernal pool and cited a recently enacted Maine vernal-pond ordinance (LD 497), asking for a natural-resources mapping before moving forward. Miles Smith, chair of the Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, urged experiments with pricing and use of existing paved areas rather than developing valuable city-owned land.
After discussion, Councilor Bullitt moved and the committee seconded to advance the design funding request to the full council for first reading in April; the motion passed by voice vote. Bradbury said staff will provide additional data on license-plate origins and parking usage prior to the council reading.
