"Fort Lauderdale, Florida airport study weighs expansion, restrictions on nighttime flights"

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Broward airport study weighs expansion, restrictions on nighttime
flights
By Scott Wyman 
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel


Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will investigate if it
can limit nighttime flights and restrict landing patterns in an effort
to ease airplane noise over nearby neighborhoods even as it moves
forward with expansion plans.

County commissioners ordered the review Tuesday and also asked their
lawyers to study if homeowners can be allowed to keep their state
property tax breaks if they are relocated because of the proposed work
on the south runway.

At the same time, though, the county moved ahead with budgeting $6.9
million to pay for studies needed to gain federal approval for the
expansion.

Critics asked commissioners not to do so because airlines recently
refused to say whether they would help pay for construction.

Commissioners described efforts to limit noise and limit the expense of
relocating as vital in light of concerns about the new runway's effect
on the environment and nearby homes.

"But for the government stepping in, these folk wouldn't be giving up
their homes," said Commissioner Kristin Jacobs in urging a review of
protecting residents' tax breaks. "God knows what property is going for
now. It's absolutely not fair to ask them to come up with hundreds of
dollars to pay the additional taxes that come with a new home."

The county promised to go further than required by the federal
government in helping residents as part of a compromise last year to
proceed with planning the south runway.

But restricting flights and extending tax breaks could prove hard to
accomplish.

The state constitution bars property values used to set taxes from
increasing more than 3 percent a year, but once a family moves their new
home is taxed at its full value. Some commissioners questioned how the
county could extend that break to a new home purchased as part of a
county-sponsored buyout without rewriting the constitution.

With the flight restrictions, aviation consultants told the
commissioners that they could seek federal permission to take those
steps without waiting for a runway decision.

A study released last week raised doubts about such restrictions.

One idea that has been floated is requiring planes to follow Interstate
595 when approaching the airport, but the study said such a flight
pattern would shift the noise to Plantation and Fort Lauderdale areas
and thus affect even more residents.

The study also considered nighttime requirements that planes land and
take off over the ocean. It concluded that such a requirement could not
be used about a third of the time because of weather conditions and
would lower noise only slightly.

The review of the environmental impact of the south runway and
alternative ways to handle the airport's expected growth should be
completed within 18 months. The new study will be done by international
aviation consultants Landrum & Brown.

Residents and officials from cities surrounding the airport wanted a new
discussion of the airport's future before work goes forward on planning
the new runway. They expressed concern that the county could end up
paying for expensive studies and then learn the airlines won't pay for
the construction, which is expected to top $500 million.

The county wanted the airlines to commit to the project in advance, but
continue to move ahead in spite the airlines' refusal to do so.

"It seems silly to spend millions of dollars when you passed a
resolution saying that if the airlines aren't willing to fund this
project, everything would go back to square one," Dania Beach City
Commissioner Bob Anton said.


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