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"Proposals for Florida's Craig airport in question"

Friday, March 16, 2001

Proposals for Craig in question
Airport upgrade concerns residents
By Jessie-Lynne Kerr
The Florida Sun Times


Proposed improvements at Craig airport have raised red flags among members
of the Greater Arlington/Beaches Citizens Planning Advisory Committee.

Two representatives of city planning agencies attended the committee's
monthly meeting Monday to give updates on Arlington and Beaches-area
projects contained in the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) and the
city's Capitol Improvement Program (CIP) for the years 2001-2006.

Jeff Sheffield, senior transportation planner for the Metropolitan Planning
Organization, presented the proposed TIP, which includes $7.3 million in
projects to improve Craig airport over the next five years.

Items include a master plan update, new corporate hangar, environmental
planning, general aviation development, non-aviation development, a fixed
base operator site development, an alternate entrance road and land
acquisition.

The committee and numerous Arlington-area civic groups and homeowners
associations have fought plans by the Jacksonville Port Authority, owner of
Craig airport, to expand a runway to accommodate larger corporate jet
aircraft. The groups cite safety and noise concerns in the residential
neighborhoods bordering the general aviation facility.

Helen Atalla, a CIP coordinator from the city's Planning and Development
Department, outlined the capital improvement projects planned for the area.
Atalla's list included about $16.8 million worth of improvements to Craig.

However, Sheffield and Atalla said that to their knowledge, none of the
requested improvements would include a runway extension.

Several members said they thought they could not trust the JPA because the
agency keeps raising the runway extension issue every few years.

The committee decided to get more information on the planned Craig
improvements before considering a resolution to the City Council that would
urge the improvements not be funded.

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