Fri, Apr 16, 2010
Will Work On A "Hybrid" Plan To Shift Runway Safety Zone Away
From Houses
More than two years of discussion over a plan to downgrade the
Venice, Florida airport has yielded very little, as the city
council voted Tuesday to not forward the plan on to the FAA.
The city will work to develop a "hybrid" plan for Venice
Municipal Airport (KVNC), according to a report in the Sarasota
Herald-Tribune. The council said it would pursue a plan that meets
federal requirements for the airport while trying to lessen the
impact on nearby homes. The council was not specific in what that
would entail.
The plan that was rejected by the council would have reduced a
runway safety buffer, but would have also discouraged "larger,
faster" airplanes from using the airport. Two council members
maintained their support for the so-called "B2" plan because it
removed several homes and a golf course from the safety zone
mandated by the FAA.
The issue was not whether airplanes fly over the houses. A
representative for the consulting firm said that the primary issue
is that homes located in an airport safety buffer have reduced
property values and higher insurance premiums. The FAA
contends that downgrading the airport would have a negative impact
on airport business.
Mayor Ed Martin has twice traveled to Washington, DC for
meetings with the FAA, who said unequivocally that they would not
allow the airport to be downgraded.
The paper reports that the vote came after the county spent over
$1.1 million in developing plans with two separate consultants.
Still, the council stopped short of endorsing an alternative that
would shift the runway about 500 feet, removing most of the houses
in the Gulf Shores neighborhood from the safety zone, but keeping
the airport designation a "C". Several council members have said
they will not approve any plan that does not address the issue of
the safety buffer in the Gulf Shores neighborhood.
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