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.

FMI: www.venicegov.com