Ground Aviation Restrictions

March 7, 2007
Ground aviation restrictions, group asks council; The law bans tinkering on or storing planes and airboats at homes.

Local aviation enthusiasts convinced the Jacksonville City Council to reconsider an ordinance passed last year that heavily restricted their hobby.

After failing in court to overturn the law, which bans anyone from tinkering on airplanes and airboats at their homes and requires the craft to be stored in enclosed garages, members of the Jacksonville chapter of the Experimental Aviation Association came to Tuesday's council meeting hoping to get members to change their minds.

They said the hobby is no different from people who restore cars or store sailboats at their home. They also said the city's noise ordinance already governs any bad behavior, and the national attention the law has received was giving Jacksonville a bad reputation.

"For a city trying to bring aviation business to Jacksonville, particularly Cecil Field, having an anti-aircraft ordinance on the books doesn't help the cause," association member Sam Fischer said.

Fischer and the others asked the council to repeal it or form a committee that includes an Experimental Aviation Association member to review the law.

Councilman Lake Ray, who sponsored the bill, conceded that it was "overreaching" and promised to "fix this so it does the right thing for everybody." He then met with members of the group in the council's green room.

Ray later said he wished aviation enthusiasts had spoken up before the council passed the bill.

"It shows we need public input to make sure we're doing the right thing," he said.

Arlington resident Brian Kraut, who was the original target of the law, had asked a judge to overturn the law as unconstitutional but was denied. He is appealing the decision.

WAR OF WORDS

Councilwoman Pat Lockett-Felder accused colleague Lad Daniels of racism at Tuesday's council meeting, saying he only supports Northside projects of "your boy" Councilman Warren Alvarez.

"I can't slip on Mr. Warren Alvarez's skin," she said. "I'm black, and I can't help that. ... It's so sad this man doesn't want anything on the Northside without it coming from Mr. Warren Alvarez."

She added: "If they don't support you big-time, then you throw a brick in their face."

Art Graham stopped the barrage by calling a point of order and saying, "I don't think we should attack each other."

Her words came as the City Council moved to postpone action on an economic incentive bill that Lockett-Felder sponsored. It provides $163,000 in incentives to expand Driggers Body Co., an auto-paint and body shop at 3526 N. Pearl St.

But some council members were concerned that a new version of the bill contained several waivers, including a requirement that limits grants to $15,000. Driggers would not have to make an equity investment of at least 10 percent of the total cost or explain why business could not obtain private financing. Driggers also would not have to provide two years of financial statements or tax returns.

Daniels reminded the council that when the council revised its rules last year, members voted to refer all bills with waivers to the Rules and Audit committees. But Lockett-Felder's bill bypassed those committees because it did not originally contain waivers.

So instead of passing the bill Tuesday, the council sent it to the committees for scrutiny.

"It's the right thing to do," Graham said. "We're up here to question things. It should be able to deal with the questions each one of us throws at it."

Lockett-Felder should have known the move was coming. Finance Committee members discussed the possibility at their meeting, which Lockett-Felder attended.

Meanwhile, Alvarez defended himself.

"First, I resent being called the boy," said Alvarez, 72. "I'm the mature one up here."

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