One Of Four Options Presented By County Officials

The NIMBY crowd fighting against Florida's Witham Field received a reality check Wednesday, when FAA officials told residents living near the airport that no -- thanks for the suggestion -- but shortening one of the airport's runways is not an option.

At issue is a 460-foot runway extension added in 1998. In response to resident petitions, Martin County officials had submitted a study to the FAA on ways to move a runway protection zone away from nearby homes.

County officials met with the FAA Wednesday, to present the study and its four alternatives for relocating the runway zone -- one of which would remove the extension, returning the runway to its pre-1998 length.

But that is not one of the options the county is studying, because FAA officials told the county the agency did not consider that to be a suitable alternative, Hudson said after Wednesday's meeting.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen confirmed to the Palm Beach Post the agency did not consider shortening the runway an alternative, but she could not offer specifics.

That comes as a letdown to the Witham Airport Action Majority, the citizens group that has lobbied everyone from Martin County officials, the FAA, and Senator Bill Nelson to shorten the extension. The group has also sued Martin Country for allowing the extension in the first place.

"The only way to correct this is to take conditions back to the way they were in 1998," said group member Lynne Pine, who also lives near the airport.

Other options presented in the study include restricting pilots from taking off past a designated line on the runway, constructing barriers to slow down runaway planes, and extending the runway the opposite direction, into the nearby golf course... but group members still say shortening the runway is the best option.

"They may not want to consider that alternative but the people do," said group president David Shore. "The letter writing and the petitions will continue."

In the interim, the FAA is still weighing those other options. The agency is expected to send an official letter to the county Friday with it's input.

From there, county officials are expected to present the runway study to the airport's noise advisory committee meeting next Thursday, Hudson said. County commissioners are scheduled to then discuss the report on February 7, according to the Post.

FMI: www.airnav.com/airport/KSUA