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USF endorses 1-runway airport plan
By BRYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG -- The campus board for the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg has unanimously endorsed Mayor Rick Baker's plan to shrink Albert Whitted Airport to a single runway. That move would alleviate safety concerns about planes that come in low over the campus to take off and land, free up land next to the campus on Bayboro Harbor for redevelopment and remove height restrictions for buildings on land the university owns. "It is no secret that the campus' growth has, in part, been hampered by limitations on vertical construction," USF president Judy Genshaft said in a statement. "We look forward to exploring further with the city and our neighbors how Mayor Baker's proposal for Albert Whitted Airport can most positively impact our campus' ability to better serve the diverse needs of the community." In October, Baker proposed a one-runway configuration at the city-owned waterfront airport as a compromise between those who want to close the airport and redevelop the land, and those who want to keep both the airport's runways and invest millions in upgrades. By eliminating the runway that runs nearly east-west and selling off most of the land it occupies, Baker would pay for improvements for the remainder of the airport, including an extension of the north-south runway into Tampa Bay. The City Council decided last month to keep the airport in some form, but it has not decided yet how many runways it will have. Baker was pleased Monday by the board's endorsement. "When I laid out my plan, I said that was one of the benefits of going forward with this," he said. Baker said he would prefer that the university not use any of what is now airport land to expand its campus. He said he wants the city to receive full market value for the land from a private buyer that would pay property taxes.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
