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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12 14 1988 Airport Politicking Continues6A, Wednesday, December 14, 1988, Vero Beach, Fla., Press -Journal Sebastian River Area • Grant • Micco-Little Hollywood • Barefoot Bay • Sebastian • Fellstnere • Roseland • Vero Lake Estates Airport Politicking Continues Citizens Watch Group May Seek To Place Issue On Ballot By PATRICIA iDiLALLA Sebastian Bureau Chief Reacting to the Sebastian City Council's ten- tative approval in October of an airport master plan, a north county group is proposing a refer- endum placing further restrictions on the air- port. The referendum could incorporate proposals that the city impose landing fees, a night curfew and a noise limit; that the airport be self-supporting; and that the city be restrained from seeking grants for airport expansion, according to a newsletter mailed to city resi- dents over the weekend. And acting for Citizens Airport Watch, attorney John Evans made a pitch at Tuesday's Indian River County School Board meeting that the airport site be used as aneducation com- plex, which would include the north county high school and a college. Sebastian Mayor Richard Votapka said Tues- day that statistics cited in the newsletter are deceiving and that the "real truth is not being told." After five years of work, council voted 3-2 at its Oct. 26 meeting to tentatively adopt the master plan and forward it to the Federal Avi- ation Administration for review. In adopting the plan, council amended it to require a noise study, prohibit ad valorem taxes from being used to fund improvements and extend a pro- posed security fence around the golf course. In its newsletter, the CAW said there are al- ternatives to the airport master plan, which it claims is a blueprint for expansion. One alternative is to relocate the air ort to other area airports, including the orw at Vero Beach. Evans said a Washington, D.C., attorney hired by the CAW indicated that relocating an airport is not so difficult as the mayor was led to be- lieve in talks he had with FAA officials. Citizens Airport Watch is expected to decide within a week to start a petition drive to gather the signatures needed to put a ref- erendum on the March ballot, according to CAW attorney John Evans. A better use of the land, Evans said, is as an education complex comprised of the north county high school and either a community col- lege or four-year college. The $1 million the school board has budgeted to purchase property for the high school could be used to release the airport property from the FAA. Although the. FAA deeded the property to the city, the city is required to maintain the air- port under FAA standards. At Tuesday's meeting, the School Board in- structed Superintendent James Burns to check into the possibility of putting the proposed high school at the airport site. While the site itself probably would be a good one for the high school, he is against the city paying millions of dollars to relocate the air- port, Votapka said. He also questioned whether CAW pointed out in its newsletter that much of the land on the airport's edge is zoned resi- dential. ".The airport can't become busier, more active without ruining their lives," it states. To counteract what it considers to be a docu- ment that expands the airport, possibly through tax dollars, the CAW is proposing a referendum to change the city charter. The referendum could include: imposing landing fees; requiring that the airport be self- supporting; restraining the city from seeking grants for airport expansion and requiring maintenance from airport funds only; imposing a night curfew; and imposing a noise limit, re- quiring the airport to live up to some of the same noise standards that apply to the rest of the city. Votapka said statements and statistics cited in the newsletter are misleading and deceiving. °I don't look at (the master plan) as an expansion document," Votapka said. "It is not putting in a terminal building, not providing for commuter aircraft, not providing for a tower. • , "It is a maintenance document. It provides for growth based on population growth." - Whatever increased traffic that occurs at the airport would take place because of population growth over the next 20 years, he said. Many capital improvements items at the air- port would have to go to referendum for voter approval anyway, Votapka said. Unless he runs into some unforeseen obstacles, Evans said he anticipates the CAW will decide within a week to start a petition drive to gather the signatures needed to put a referendum on the March ballot.