Ormond Beach airport runway extension controversy to be aired Tuesday – Daytona Beach News-Journal

Opposition to a long-proposedOrmond Beach airport runway extension could leave the project grounded, but the city is hosting a "community conversation"Tuesday to gauge public opinion and answer questions.

"The OB Life: Airport Focus" will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ormond Beach Senior Center, 351 Andrews St. It will also be available to stream athttps://..opengov.com/ormondbeachfl/published/WBqzTztTe.

"We're just trying to be as transparent as possible with the community and get some good factual information out to everyone regarding the 600-foot runway extension," Mayor Bill Partington said. "Basically, the extension is going to make things quieter, safer and it's paid for with grant dollars that ifwe don'tuse them, they would go to some other community."

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The event will provide "a platform" for feedback as well as an opportunity for residents to hear directly from those involved, according to a city flyer promoting the event.

City officials say they aim to increase safety and efficiency by extending the runway 600 feet to the west. The proposed project is scaled back from an earlier plan to lengthen the runway by 1,000 feet, which would have involved a 400-foot extension to the east.

Because that additional 400 feet would have meant purchasing right-of-way from neighbors who opposed the plan, it was dropped.

But the 600 feet also remains in dispute, while some longtime residents recall a failed attemptmore than 15 years ago to get the1,000-foot extension.

Signs are up in yards across the city reading: "No airport runway extension."

Opponents include Don Miller, who's unhappy that the city closed the Bear Creek Golf Course at the end of 2020. He said part of the course will have to be used to extend the runway, although city officials have said the course closed because of financial problems involving the private operator.

Miller said he believes the 400 foot-extension to the west will be added later, giving the airport an opportunity to serve larger carriers.

Another concerned resident is Fran Canfield, HOA president of the adjacent Bear Creek 55+ community.

"We have a quiet environment to which we all enjoy when we are walking our pets and riding our bikes, and I would say over the past maybe three years now the …air traffic has increased as well as the noise, and we have become very worried and are losing confidence in our city officials because of the contradictions that keep being out for public review."

Former City Commissioner Jeff Boyle said a handful of pilots who live in the city are pushing for the expansion that the majority of residents don't support.

"Theyre asking us to subsidize an airport we dont want. Theres no public mandate other than new special interests in the city … and (residents)will tell you the city has operated with a lack of transparency, a lack of truth, direct contradictions."

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Ormond Beach airport runway extension controversy to be aired Tuesday - Daytona Beach News-Journal