Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
A decades-old law dealing with airport zoning is getting an update.
The House Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee approved a proposal Tuesday that updates the state’s Airport Zoning Law of 1945. The law governs land use and airspace management at or around the state’s airports.
The measure (HB 1379) essentially modernizes the rules regulating airspace and land use for affected area and, according to a House staff analysis, transitions from “an antiquated variance process to a more streamlined permitting process for certain structures.”
Rep. Mike Miller, the Winter Park Republican sponsoring the bill, said the proposal was presented to him by a group of stakeholders.
In 2012, the Department of Transportation created a stakeholder working group to deal with problems in the state’s airport zoning law. The group met three times between June and September 2012. According to the staff analysis, group determined the law contained provisions that are “outdated and inconsistent with federal regulations.”
Among other things, the proposal provides that existing, planned and proposed facilities at public-use airports contained in the master plan will be protected from airport hazards.
It also says the Department of Transportation has 30 days after receiving an application to issue or deny a permit, and adds criteria for DOT to consider when approving or granting a permit.
The bill now heads to the House Economic Affairs Committee.
