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Also considered, was whether there were any existing "natural" demand <br />management mechanisms. A preliminary assessment of annual turnover of hangar <br />property ownership in the recent past at Crystal Airport indicates total annual <br />hangar turnover is very low and turnover of storage spots between airports also, <br />very limited. Another similar aspect is the practice of "doubling-up" in <br />existing hangars if new hangar areas are not available. Recent indications are <br />this pent-up demand at Crystal and Flying Cloud Airports are now showing up as <br />new hangar units in the just completed or to be completed building areas at <br />Airlake and Anoka Co.-Blaine Airports. Thus, a certain number of new building <br />area slots, assumed to be available for projected aircraft demand, are being <br />taken by existing based aircraft. <br /> <br />A third option was to assess the potential of other existing airports within or <br />near Search Area (A). It was established that the privately-owned, public-use <br />Maple Airstrip, while moderately accessable from the Flying Cloud and Crystal <br />Airport service areas, was situated too close to the community of Maple Plaine, <br />constraining future development potential. The Buffalo Municipal Airport in <br />Wright Co. was likewise assessed. It is 40-50 miles from~nuch of the Flying <br />Cloud and Crystal Service Areas and while it has a paved runway, its length of <br />2,500', together with other site limitations reduces its attractiveness to <br />metro users for basing their aircraft. <br /> <br />A fourth option was to assess other potential "new" capacity, two airports, <br />Gateway (located in the city of Ramsey), and a proposed new Carver Co. Airport <br />were considered. The Gateway facility is an existing privately-owned, public- <br />use airport. The city is in the process of attempting to make this a municipal <br />facility. After an unsuccessful attempt to locate a new airport site in <br />Ramsey, the city has settled on expansion'at the existing industrial park <br />location. The two existing runways are to be replaced by a single paved runwa <br />3,300' long. While this is an existing site, it faces a number of hurdles <br />before becoming a municipal facility: It must successfully complete an <br />environmental assessment (this includes the taking of 13 residences); It must <br />successfully resolve local land use development and airport area zoning issues; <br />The city must provide local matching funds if they successfully obtain federal <br />and state aid; Finally, there is the conflict with expansion of the Anoka <br />Landfill which may possibly leave the Metro Council in a position of having to <br />decide on future development of one or the other facility. The other airport <br />considered is a proposed new minor airport in Carver Co. for which a <br />feasibility study is currently in process. The county has not yet determined <br />that locating, financing & developing a new airport is .feasible or desirable. <br /> Both the Gateway and Carver Co. proposals represent a potential~ addition to <br />capacity in the west sub-region. Although these facilities, if they <br />materialize, would not provide substantdal relief to Flying Cloud and Crystal <br />Airports, they would enhance the capability of the system. ~ <br /> <br />The demand/capacity relationships of including these last two options (Gateway <br />and possibly Carver Co.) are shown in Table 6: <br /> <br />CONCLUSIONS REGARDING ALTERNATIVES EVALUATION <br /> <br />o The do-nothing alternative is unacceptable since available capacity is <br /> grossly inadequate to handle projected demand. <br /> <br /> <br />