11/26/1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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r NOV 26 M911 Bill Sherry, Director of the Vero Beach Municipal Airport, read into the record the following comments regarding their objection to a school being allowed within 2000 feet from a runway Members of the County Commission you have a very difficult decision before you today. I do not envy your having to make that decision. I wish I could help make this decision easier for you, but I can not. You will hear today the opinions of quite a few people, so I will try to keep my comments brief and to the point. Essentially, you must decide what is safe and what is not. The decision is whether or not to allow a school to be con- structed approximately 2000' off the extended centerline of a major runway at Vero Beach Municipal Airport; a runway which ac- commodates both large and small aircraft, many of which are stu- dent pilots training.. These aircraft will pass overhead at approximately 150' under normal conditions. it is estimated that this will occur approximately 400 times per day while the runway is in use. Furthermore, since runway use is largely de- termined by weather conditions, Runway 4, the runway in ques- tion, is primarily used during the winter season (November -March) when large corporate and private jets are down for the winter. These jets will also pass overhead at 150 feet. After hearing from all sides, the I.R.C. Planning and Zoning Commission recommended against the construction of this school. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation after studying the proposal recommends against the project. And I also recommend you deny this re- quest. Why? First, let me say that there is nothing personal in our recom- mendations. As a matter of fact, after dealing with the indi- viduals involved, I am convinced they are very fine, caring people. They are just having a difficult time understanding the aviation issues involved. These issues center around two con- cerns - noise and safety, and more specifically, the accident potential in the vicinity of the approach end of a runway. Prob- ably everyone here knows that aviation As one of the. safest forms of transportation available today. But accidents happen, and one of the greatest risk areas for an aircraft accident is in or around the ap___"aroach end of a runway. For this reason, FAA, FDOT, I.R.C. P & Z, and airport staff recommend the place- ment of 200 school children someplace other than in an approach zone of a runway. As you heard from Stan Boling, FAA and FDOT have not, as of yet, established objective criteria in the form of regulations or recommendations pertaining to this type of situation - as it relates to safety. Therefore, this makes your decision that much more difficult. is the risk sufficiently lowered if the school structure is located 320'off the extended centerline rather than. 280'? This would be a very small margin for an aircraft in dif- ficulty. 36