AOPA urges New Smyrna Beach to stop residential development
By AOPA ePublishing staff
The city of New Smyrna Beach has both the authority and obligation to protect its airport—and allowing residential development within 2,000 feet of the runway is not the way to do it.
That’s the message AOPA sent in a Feb. 21 letter to the mayor, urging the Florida city to reconsider its decision to allow residential development under the traffic pattern at New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport.
AOPA’s Government Affairs staff has partnered with Airport Support Network volunteer Paul Rooy and other airport advocates to educate city officials about the potential noise and safety problems raised by allowing residential development so close to the airport. Despite these concerns, the city initially voted in favor of the development, but objections from the Florida Department of Community Affairs forced officials to revisit the issue.
On Feb. 26, Rooy made a presentation to the city commission outlining airport users’ concerns about the possible development—a message that seemed to resonate with some commission members.
Now AOPA is again asking the city not to repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing incompatible development and reminding the city of its obligation to protect the airport under the agreement with the federal government that deeded the airport to New Smyrna Beach following World War II.
February 28, 2008
AOPA ePublishing staff
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