 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Baker seeks delay for airport hearing
By BRYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG -- City leaders seem poised to make the first big decision in decades about the future of Albert Whitted Airport. But first, Mayor Rick Baker has a request: Please wait a year. He wants more time to study his plan for improving the airport and will ask the City Council on Thursday to delay a public hearing scheduled for Jan. 30. Under Baker's plan, one of the airport's two runways would be closed to free land for public use and redevelopment. The other runway would be improved. But will the Federal Aviation Administration allow the city to close the runway? That's just one of many questions Baker hopes to answer. "Everybody who has articulated a position has said that the plan ought to be studied, and the Airport Advisory Committee has articulated a time period of a year," Baker said Monday, adding that All Children's Hospital, the University of South Florida and others have supported his idea. "I'm going to be asking for the funding and a year to do it." Baker's plan is a compromise he proposed in October to satisfy those who want the city to invest in the airport and those who want to close it and redevelop the site. Baker's idea is more of a concept than a plan, and that has made the idea difficult to debate. The Airport Advisory Committee, which has advocated investing in the airport in its current, two-runway form, recently sent a letter to the City Council that said Baker's idea is worth studying as long as it doesn't take too long. Baker thinks the Jan. 30 public hearing won't be productive until he can answer some of the questions that have dogged his idea, such as whether prevailing winds would allow a single runway to handle every flight. Government officials have said it is possible, but depends on a number of factors. Baker is asking for $80,000 to pay professional consultants to find likely answers to those questions. Council members interviewed Monday said they like the idea of getting more definitive answers to their questions about Baker's plan, but many disliked his suggestion to cancel the hearing, which was set in November. "We've scheduled a public hearing; I don't see why we shouldn't have it," Chairman Earnest Williams said. "People say they want input on the front end; let's give them the opportunity. I see no reason not to." Council member Jay Lasita said there's no need to put off the hearing, just the final decision. "My hope and feeling is that after the public hearing that we not take a vote," he said. Council member Virginia Littrell agreed, adding that she doesn't see why Baker needs so long to study his idea. "There's no reason this can't be studied in 60 to 90 days," she said. Hearing delay?The St. Petersburg City Council has scheduled a public hearing on the future of Albert Whitted Airport for Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. But Mayor Rick Baker is asking for a delay. He wants time to answer questions about his plan, which varies from the current airport master plan. THE MAYOR'S PLAN-- Close the northeast-southwest runway -- Extend remaining north-south runway into bay -- Use 71/2 acres to make a new waterfront park -- Sell up to 281/2 acres for redevelopment -- Build a new terminal and hangars near remaining runway AIRPORT MASTER PLAN-- Keep both runways -- Extend northeast-southwest into Tampa Bay -- Build hangars on land Baker proposes for park
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
