Craig Field Runway Subject of Meeting The Town Hall Gathering Will Discuss a Master Plan and Longer Runway.

By DAVID BAUERLEIN

The long-running battle over extending Craig Municipal Airport’s runway is far from over.

The Jacksonville Aviation Authority recently mailed out 54,000 notices to residents in the area around the airport, notifying them of a Sept. 15 town hall meeting about a master plan that features a longer runway at the Arlington airport.

The aviation authority also has authorized spending $200,000 for a “cost-benefit” study of a longer runway.

And the board has decided to hire outside attorneys to analyze legal issues around the runway extension, including City Hall’s authority to block a longer runway.

In April, the aviation authority withdrew its request for Jacksonville City Council to lift the city’s ban on lengthening the runway. The authority pulled back after neighborhood groups rallied opposition to changing the city’s comprehensive plan, which guides the city’s growth.

The authority argued extending the runway to 5,600 feet from 4,000 feet would make it safer for pilots. Opponents countered the longer runway would turn Craig field into a busier airport at odds with the residential neighborhoods around it.

Aviation authority spokesman Michael Stewart said Tuesday the board wants legal advice on whether the comprehensive plan can legally stop the construction of a longer runway.

“The board is looking at that and they are raising that question,” Stewart said. “We don’t have an answer to it.”

City Councilman Bill Bishop, whose district contains neighborhoods in the vicinity of Craig airport, said the authority’s continued push for a longer runway will force the dispute into the courtroom.

“They are bound and determined to ram this down our throat,” he said. “If they don’t back down, it will end up in court.”

He said he is reviewing whether the City Council’s review of the aviation authority’s spending gives the council the ability to block runway-related spending at Craig airport.

The town hall meeting on Craig airport’s 20-year master plan is scheduled for Sept. 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at New Covenant Ministries, 2360 St. Johns Bluff Road S.david.bauerlein@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4581

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