ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Plans to possibly move and extend one of the runways at Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg could have sweeping impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.
That’s why St. Petersburg leaders hosted an open house Wednesday for people interested in learning more about the proposed master plan.
The airport’s last master plan was drafted in 2005 and completed in 2007. This next plan will look at the potential for extending the airport’s east-west runway out into Tampa Bay, as well as expanding hangar space at the airport, which is currently at capacity.
The potential extension of the runway to the east could allow for more development in the airport's runway protection zone (RPZ), which is the area extending out beyond the ends of an airport’s runway. If the runway moves to the east, the area to the west -- which is occupied mainly by USF St. Petersburg’s campus -- could be allowed to develop taller buildings in the future.
“That actually opens up the development potential on the west side,” said airport manager Richard Lesniak. “When we did that feasibility study, we did a tie-in economic impact study to look at that and the results were pretty amazing. I don’t think it’s very common where you see an airport project where you’re looking at doing a runway improvement where there’s a big impact off the airport.”
Other stakeholders in the area said they were excited to learn more about the plan and about its potential to bring more people to the neighborhood.
“I don’t know what the plans are, and I don’t see anything happening overnight but it is kind of exciting," said Dennis Bixler, who owns the Tavern at Bayboro directly across the street from the airport. "It’s a cool airport, I’m glad it’s still there, we get a lot of business from those folks over there, great people. So, I don’t have any negative thoughts right now, I guess I just need to wait and see and do a little more research to find out what exactly this is going to entail and how they’re going to expand."
“We’re used to the airplanes flying overhead, whether it’s lunchtime, dinner time. Even when we have bands play, they just play right through,” he added. “It’s never really bothered me, I don’t think it’s going to affect and, if anything, I think it could possibly bring us more business because of the area we’re in.”
The city will hold another open house within the coming year after more work has been done on the master plan. A date for that open house has not yet been set.
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