Residents Of Dania Beach Say They Plan To Sue

The residents of Dania Beach, FL, near Fort Lauderdale thought their 25-year battle with the FAA over an expansion of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport was over. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood came for the groundbreaking on the new runway, which he said would provide jobs for workers in the area.

But as part of the deal, the Dania Beach city commission had requested that the roughly 2,000 homeowners who live near the airport be paid up to 20 percent of their home's value for noise abatement. The FAA has denied that request. George Kent, Director of Aviation in Broward County, told television station WSVN that the FAA came back and said "You can't do it. It's not in the EIS ... nor is it in our regulations, nor is it eligible for funding." George said no similar request had ever been made by any other municipality in relation to any other project.

Dania Beach City Commissioner Anne Castro told the station that litigation would be forthcoming. "There might be a chance we can get an injunction to stop the construction until some of the matters area resolved," she said.

George said that regardless of any action taken by Dania Beach, construction would move forward.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ci.dania-beach.fl.us