A Response to Criticism of new Panhandle Airport

I am writing in response to the commentary written by Fred Werner regarding the relocation of the Panama City-Bay County Airport that ran in the Orlando Sentinel last Monday. On behalf of the Greater Panama City Beaches Chamber of Commerce, I'd like to point out some facts about the airport relocation project:

The plans for the new airport have been studied for more than 10 years at the local, state and federal level. Each entity from the Florida Department of Transportation to the Federal Aviation Administration has agreed that relocating the airport to the new site is the best solution to the area's needs. This includes an exhaustive environmental-impact statement that examines all environmental aspects of the move.

The current airport is too small and too constrained. It has the shortest primary runway of any commercial airport in Florida. Its runway-safety areas are substantially below federal requirements. It is surrounded on three sides by residential neighborhoods and on the fourth side by West Bay. Expansion has been examined closely and rejected as not feasible.

The new airport is intended to meet the aviation needs of the region for the next 50 years. At first, 1,400 acres will be used for the airport and related activities. That is the right size for right now. As demand increases, the size of the airport can expand easily. The new airport is nowhere near the size of the Tampa airport.

The new airport is very accessible. It will be located in northwest Bay County, close to the rapidly growing areas along the coast from Panama City Beach to Walton and Okaloosa counties. It will be a 20-minute drive from Panama City.

The new airport site is primarily a pine forest that has been harvested and replanted with slash pines for decades. It is not a wilderness. To compensate for any wetlands that may be disturbed, a nearly 10,000-acre mitigation site has been set aside for permanent protection.

Most important -- and a fact rarely mentioned by airport relocation opponents -- is that the airport is part of a much bigger plan, the West Bay Sector Plan. The centerpiece of this landmark work is a 40,000-acre preservation area that includes most of the shoreline of West Bay and the watersheds that feed it. It will create an environmental jewel.

Relocating the airport is an opportunity for improved air service, greater economic development and environmental protection for Northwest Florida. If we don't take this opportunity to establish the zoning and land-use rules put in place with the West Bay Sector Plan, we may not have a say in the future development of that 70,000 acres, and, as a result, may never be able to move our airport. While this may please some of the opponents of relocation, I believe that not taking advantage of this opportunity will limit the ability of Bay County to attract new business and industry.

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