CAA: GA News, "Judge: Naples Airport Authority within rights to impose Stage 2 jet ban"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Judge: Naples Airport Authority within rights to impose Stage 2 jet ban
By LARRY HANNAN
The Naples (FL) Daily News


The Naples Airport Authority has achieved a second major court victory
in its effort to control airport noise. 

Collier County Circuit Judge Hugh Hayes ruled in favor of the Airport
Authority Tuesday in a lawsuit that challenged a ban on Stage 2 jets at
Naples Municipal Airport. Hayes issued a summary judgment that said the
ban was proper before the case went to trial. 

The lawsuit was filed by Continental Aviation, a tenant at the airport
that owns a Gulfstream III jet that has been unable to take off or land
in Naples since the ban was enacted earlier this year. 

The Naples-based plane has been temporarily relocated to Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. 

This is the second court case challenging the Stage 2 jet ban that
Naples Airport has won. Naples is the first airport in the country to
ban Stage 2 jets of fewer than 75,000 pounds. 
 
Continental Aviation and its owner, James Lennane, had alleged that the
Gulfstream III had a right to take off and land at Naples Airport
because the aircraft was based there before the jet ban began. 

Continental attorney Jim Demarest said prohibiting Lennane from using
the plane violated his vested rights. Since Lennane was there before the
ban, Demarest contended, he should still be able to use his plane
because it is "grandfathered" in the same way certain buildings are
allowed to remain in an area even after the zoning has been changed to
make the building use noncompliant. 

Continental's plane was the only Stage 2 jet based at Naples Airport
when enforcement of the ban began March 1. 

"We are not looking to challenge the entire Stage 2 ban," Demarest said.
"We are looking to carve out a small exception. It's just our airplane."


Naples Airport Attorney Perry Rosen said the airport followed the proper
procedures set forth by the federal government in banning the jets. 

That process allowed the airport to ban all Stage 2 jets, with no
exception being made for jets based at Naples Airport, Rosen said. 

"What (Continental) seeks is a license to avoid a regulation that
everyone else must follow," Rosen said. "The fact that they own land at
the airport doesn't give them a license to do whatever they want." 

Hayes said the airport had the right to impose the ban. He also said it
was a stretch to argue that Continental had vested rights. 

Continental attorneys also asked Hayes to issue a summary judgment that
the ban was unenforceable because it constituted a change in zoning. The
Naples Airport Authority doesn't have the authority to enact zoning
regulations. 

Hayes rejected that request. 

"I think it's within the Airport Authority's scope of authority (to
institute the ban)," Hayes said. 

After the hearing, Demarest said Continental would follow the ban and
would not attempt to take off or land at Naples Airport with the
Gulfstream III. 

Demarest also said Lennane was committed to remaining at Naples Airport
and said Continental was trying to figure out a way to remain in Naples
while using the airplane. 

This is the second court case challenging the Stage 2 jet ban that
Naples Airport has won. Naples is the first airport in the country to
ban Stage 2 jets of fewer than 75,000 pounds. 

Last year, two Washington, D.C.-based trade groups sued the Airport
Authority, alleging the Stage 2 ban was unconstitutional. In August
2001, U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell issued a summary judgment in
favor of Naples Airport in the case before it went to trial. 

The suit was filed by the National Business Aviation Association and the
General Aviation Manufacturers Association. 

The business trade groups had sought a permanent injunction that would
prohibit the airport from enforcing the Stage 2 jet ban.


   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID2

*****************************************