Alan Parker knows he cannot stop the extension of the runway at Naples Municipal Airport.
But Parker hopes the city will take some control over its land in the future. "The extension is going to go ahead; whatever we do will not affect that," he said. "But the citizens should have some measure of control over what happens at our airport. ... It should be decided by the elected officials who are the owners of the land."
Parker and Larry Schultz, managers of Citizens Against Runway Extension LLC, sent a letter to Naples Mayor Bill Barnett and members of City Council on Friday, asking the council to "defend the citizens against the Naples Airport Authority's and the (Federal Aviation Administration's) claims that the City is preempted by Federal law from controlling land use through zoning of the City's airport property." According to CARE, city attorney Robert Pritt told council at its June 15 meeting that, although the city is the owner of airport property, the city is not the airport proprietor and it is pre-empted from the right to regulate zoning or to control land-use policy at the Naples airport. Pritt, who has written reports on the subject, said the city has no jurisdiction over the runway extension at the airport. But CARE argues Pritt did not tell council members that Naples had taken the opposite side of the pre-emption argument in 2003, when it showed the FAA the city was not pre-empted from enforcing zoning at the airport. In addition, CARE argued that Naples contractually retained the rights and powers of the owner and operator, including in the lease the right to enforce its zoning ordinances, which it could change any time. "So under the Naples lease, if the NAA doesn't abide by the City zoning (or any other) ordinance, the City can declare a breach and potentially terminate the lease," CASE wrote. According to the letter sent by CARE, Barnett and council members maintain that council voted on the runway extension proposal March 16 as if there were no pre-emption and the city legally exercised jurisdiction over the runway extension. "But, in a May 24, 2011 decision involving another airport, the FAA publicly stated that the City of Naples does not dispute that the NAA is the proprietor of the airport. This means the FAA had been advised that the City conceded it is preempted and has no jurisdiction over the runway extension," the letter states. "The FAA did not disclose the source of the City of Naples concession, but apparently no one in City government has questioned the FAA's position that the City has conceded preemption. In any event, it is apparent that Mr. Pritt is in agreement with the FAA in his opinion that the NAA is the proprietor of the airport, supporting his position that the City is preempted." The Airport's Executive Director Ted Soliday said the letter is "loaded with misrepresentations and statements." "This is similar to the majority of the other documents they have written and published," he said. "They use pieces of our lease and quote it, which makes you think one thing as long as you don't read the rest of the lease." While Soliday said CASE has the right to write to Barnett and council members, nothing in the letter is true. "We never challenged the FAA on the preemption issue," he said. "We went to court in 2003 to challenge the FAA on the noise issue. They are just trying to get the public angry. It's a game." CARE's letter said Pritt's position that the Naples Airport Authority is the airport proprietor and controls all matters relating to the Naples Airport is a concern to the community. "The City's position as to whether it can or cannot control development of the airport is critical to the future of the community," the letter states. "It is therefore important to evaluate Mr. Pritt's position in this matter and to decide whether the City reasonably can rely on his opinion." The letter asks the council to ask Pritt to recuse himself from all airport-related matters and asks the council to hire "independent experienced aviation counsel" to review the record and advise council of its legal position and options. "The City owns the land on which the Airport sits, and what takes place on that land impacts the citizens and the quality of life in the City. City rights to control its land use must not be given away to an independent, appointed governmental agency, which has no direct responsibility to the people who are impacted by its decisions," the letter states. Pritt said he saw the letter and plans to send a response back. Pritt said he has no plans to recuse himself from future discussions about the airport. Barnett said while City Council is done with any agenda items or issues dealing with the Naples Airport Authority's request, the CARE letter will be treated just like any other email or letter from a city resident. "The letter that came would be almost the same as if a citizen came in and said ... I have questions that need clarified," Barnett said. Those questions will be forwarded on to the appropriate person - such as the city manager or city attorney - who will likely get back to the organization with an opinion. But Barnett said council will not be addressing the issue again. "When council deals with it ... it's done," he said. "It does not come back again just because someone wrote a letter." The Naples City Council approved the airport's runway extension by a 4-3 vote on March 16, after a 10-hour meeting. Construction on the runway began last month. The Naples Airport Authority plans to extend the runway's safety zones by 510 feet on the south end and 800 feet on the north end. This would increase the declared distance of the runway to 5,800 feet for takeoff, but it would remain 5,000 feet for landing. Construction is scheduled to be completed before Thanksgiving. Daily News reporter Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster contributed to this report. Connect with Katherine Albers at www.naplesnews.com/staff/katherine-albers/
