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November 8, 2003
Keep Small Immokalee Airport Open Phasing out aviation at the Immokalee Regional Airport is a bad idea, especially now that the small Collier County farming community seems primed for some real progress. That’s probably why people were so outraged at the idea, floated at a recent meeting of the Immokalee Area Master Plan Ad Hoc Committee. This is not the time for the county to be downgrading the airport, even if it is losing money. A new university and planned community are coming to Immokalee. Aviation in South Florida is booming, and in some cases on the east coast, bursting the physical limits of airports. In fact, there is an effort underway to convince cargo carriers to use Immokalee Airport. The airport authority that runs Immokalee and two other small airports has a promising new business plan. So the county should look for opportunities to expand aviation activities at the airport. County planners, fortunately, favor expanding non-aviation activities there if possible, including the raceway and campground. This small community, long associated with crime and rural poverty, has made remarkable progress in recent years, much of it growing from grassroots activism. The airport has been a focus of pride and hope. That’s one reason residents were so appalled at the notion of cutting back on aviation. But there are hard-headed reasons for keeping aviation alive at this small airport, not least of which are the long-range opportunities for small air fields in America as aviation seeks alternatives to the big airports for a variety of activities. The economic challenge in Immokalee is different from what planners in Naples are used to. Boom times have come easily to the coastal area. But Immokalee needs to work for its development, and it needs county planners and commissioners |