St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker has proposed an innovative compromise for Albert Whitted Airport, one that finally invites the public into the debate over the airport's future. The proposal comes at a time when the most rabid airport supporters are trying to push the City Council into accepting a misguided master plan for Albert Whitted that would cost taxpayers millions of dollars and deny residents use of their own land. Baker has brought clarity to this divisive issue.

Giving a nod to all factions, the mayor has proposed keeping the airport but reducing its size and removing the east/west runway. He would add new facilities to make the airport more economically viable. On the land that is freed for other uses, the mayor would create a waterfront park and open interior portions to development, which would presumably pay for the other projects. He would also allow more land for improvements at the Port of St. Petersburg. In other words, while no faction would get everything that it wants, all legitimate interests are addressed in the proposal.

Baker's staff is still working on the details, and some of those will undoubtedly be controversial, such as a proposed extension of the north/south runway. A final proposal could be different than what is currently before the council, but the important point is that the mayor has given council members a way to move forward.

Most important, the compromise proposal ensures citizen participation. Baker said he would hold public workshops and hearings on what city residents want to see on their land before making any development decisions. That point alone should convince the City Council to proceed with Baker's proposal rather than the existing airport master plan.

A couple of council members have been listening exclusively to a self-interested clique that ignores the city's overall well-being. But look at what the airport master plan would do to the public's waterfront. It would extend the east/west runway more than 1,000 feet into Tampa Bay, build more than a dozen hangar buildings, some on the public waterfront and others just a few feet away from the Bayfront Center property. It would plunge the city into debt and put the financial burden on the backs of taxpayers.

Baker's compromise addresses some of the most troubling aspects of that master plan. The compromise would return a substantial tract, at least 7 acres, to the public as a waterfront park. It would remove the noise pollution and risk of low-flying aircraft at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, and it would lift building-height constraints at both the university and All Children's Hospital. It would design a more compact airport that at least would have a better chance of paying its own way. Now, taxpayers and utility customers subsidize airport operations. It would return some of the land to city tax rolls, thereby relieving residents' financial burden.

Yet the greatest benefit of the compromise is this: It would invite the public into the discussion. And that is what a small pack of airport backers fear the most. Already they are urging the City Council to adopt the airport master plan, quickly before anyone finds out what a bad deal it is for the city.

It is time for St. Petersburg residents to get involved. They should urge their council members to accept the mayor's offer to let the debate begin.

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