AOPA, Pompano Beach, Fla., airport, local developer reach accord on condos near airport

Pompano Airpark (PMP) in Pompano Beach, Fla., has been saved from new restrictions, procedures, and traffic patterns thanks to efforts by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Those efforts also mean that a local developer will be able to move forward with two high-rise condominium projects without threatening the airport. It's all the result of a meeting arranged by AOPA between the developer and Pompano Airpark business tenants, airport management, and air traffic control (ATC) tower operators.

"We had been at loggerheads with the city and developer for months over plans for the condo buildings and their suggestions for mitigating airport impact," said AOPA Vice President of Regional Affairs Bill Dunn. "Sitting down together gave us all the opportunity to search for alternatives that benefit everyone. Now we've found a solution in which everybody wins."

The developer had wanted a number of restrictions that would have limited the utility of the airport in order to build the nearby high-rises. Among them: reversing the traffic pattern for Runway 28; operating the control tower 24 hours a day; prohibiting faster aircraft (mostly corporate-class jets) from making instrument approaches to Runway 33, increasing the minimum descent altitude for Runway 33, and developing a departure procedure for Runway 10.

When others, notably the ATC representatives, raised safety objections, the participants began looking for alternatives and found them. The compromise proposals include:

• Full real estate disclosure, depicting the airport's location and noting its heavy use as a training facility;
• Runway enhancements that will increase safety while decreasing aircraft noise in surrounding neighborhoods, eliminating IFR departure procedures for Runway 10, and eliminating the need to reverse Runway 28's traffic pattern or limit operations on Runway 33;
• Avigation easements (neighborhood overflight rights).

The developer agreed that all of the proposals were acceptable from their standpoint.

At a follow-up meeting with Pompano Beach City Manager C. William Hargett the following morning, Hargett agreed to urge the city commissioners to accept the proposals. He also asked AOPA to support the proposals during public meetings and with testimony at public hearings.

"This is really a win-win-win situation," said Dunn. "Not only will airport users be able to continue operating at Pompano Airpark as they have in the past, but the airport will receive a number of enhancements. As a result of those enhancements, airport neighbors should notice a drop in noise levels. And the developer will be able to go ahead with the project."

The nearly 400,000 members of AOPA make up the world's largest civil aviation organization. AOPA is committed to ensuring the continued viability, growth, and development of aviation and airports in the United States. These airports are a vital and critical component of a national transportation system.

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