Wakulla Co. commissioners table vote on airport's fate. Now they look to change a Florida statute.

Wakulla County commissioners tabled a vote on the fate of the county's only public-use airport Monday.

County Commissioner Ralph Thomas said the subject will be shelved while he aims to change a Florida statute in the next legislative session to release the county from "a catch-22 situation."

The statute, Chapter 333, prohibits residential construction in the surrounding area of any public-use airport that has not been the subject of a noise study, like the Wakulla County Airport.

"This would affect at least 20 parcels and many landowners," Thomas told the Democrat Tuesday. "We don't want to stop them from being able to build on their land."

Background:Future of small Wakulla airport up in the air: Residents rally before commission vote

On the other hand, the noise study would cost between $300,000 to $400,000, said Thomas, adding: "It would be a waste of taxpayer money. My theory — that I think will hold true — is the noise study will happen and they'll just say we don't exceed any threshold because there's only a few small planes coming through here."

Florida statutes do not distinguish airport size in its airport zoning law, meaning Wakulla County Airport would need to conduct the same noise study as Tampa or Jacksonville international airports, which are both considered "maintained assets" by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

Wakulla, however, is not as indicated by its omission from the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems — a list of all airports that are obligated to be in compliance with the FAA's rules and regulations, Thomas said.

After speaking with the National Association of Counties, the FAA and congressman, Thomas plans to push for the change in March. 

"It should be easy," he said. "It's a quick, small fix that gets us out of this catch-22."

The delay in the decision on whether to close the airport arrives after days of outspoken support for the airport's continued operation from locals and members of the Tarpine Owner's Association, a local HOA that has been in a decade-spanning entanglement with the county on the airport's ownership.

Support exists to keep Wakulla County Airport open

A recent survey of approximately 169 Wakulla residents showed 86% strongly support keeping the airport open, according to Hammerhead Communications, a public relations firm run by Skip Foster, a former publisher and president of the Tallahassee Democrat.

HOA representatives and locals have said the airport should remain open so it can continue being used by not only residents but also military and law enforcement agencies that conduct trainings and use the airport during natural disasters, like Hurricane Michael.

Meanwhile, the county has held its position that the airport's restoration cost — which would be covered by a federal grant — would tie the county to a requirement to keep the facility in compliance, affecting nearby landowners through potential eminent domain action.

Eminent domain allows a government agency to take privately owned land for compensation as long as it's for public use. 

In addition, the noise study stops any plans from moving forward because it limits commissioners choices to preventing landowners from building or shelve out over a quarter of a million dollars for a noise study, Thomas said.

"If we don't have a path around this (noise study) we're at a dead end," he said. "We're boxed in here because we hate wasting taxpayers money."

Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.

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