Representatives from the Lakefront Airport Preservation Partnership (LAPP) met with senior leaders from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb\u2019s office on Tuesday to discuss the future of Burke Lakefront Airport and encourage continued collaboration and investment. At the same time, LAPP representatives expressed support for a series of upcoming city council hearings on the proposed closure of the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe appreciate Mayor Bibb\u2019s staff taking the time to hear our concerns,\u201d said AOPA Great Lakes Regional Manager Kyle Lewis, who helped found the LAPP. \u201cWe\u2019re encouraged by their commitment to continued dialogue about what the future of Burke Lakefront looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lewis and the other LAPP representatives encouraged the mayor\u2019s staff to request a study from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to examine all potential uses for the 450-acre site and to allow for long-term leases on the airport site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis doesn\u2019t have to be all-or-nothing,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cWe’re not saying the airport has to stay open with its current footprint. We believe there may be room to find some middle ground that allows for portions of the airport property to be redeveloped without closing the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy not accepting federal grant dollars for infrastructure improvements and not allowing for long-term leases for airport businesses, the city has contributed significantly to some of the problems that have been discussed,\u201d added Lewis. \u201cAirport operators told the mayor\u2019s staff they have millions to invest at the airport but will not do so unless they can reasonably expect a return on that investment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Tuesday, the Cleveland City Council also announced a series of four hearings to \u201clearn more about the administration\u2019s proposed closure\u201d of the airport. Each will focus on a different aspect of the closure and redevelopment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur goal is to determine if closure is not just desirable, but practical and financially responsible,\u201d said Councilman Charles Slife, who chairs the council\u2019s Transportation and Mobility Committee, in a news release. \u201cWe cannot afford to close an airport for a redevelopment project that the market cannot sustain or the City cannot afford to maintain. Clevelanders deserve an open conversation about the timelines and costs associated with this vision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe appreciate Councilman Slife taking an objective look at this proposal and whether it will benefit Cleveland taxpayers,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cBetween the cost to remediate a site that is largely built on a landfill, the loss of a downtown airport that provides unique value for businesses and life-saving emergency transportation, the regulatory complexity and timelines required to close an active airport, and the uncertainty surrounding whether redevelopment would justify those costs, we think it will become clear that closing Burke Lakefront is not in the city\u2019s best interest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Representatives from the Lakefront Airport Preservation Partnership (LAPP) met with senior leaders from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb\u2019s office on Tuesday to discuss the future of Burke Lakefront Airport and encourage continued collaboration and investment. At the same time, LAPP representatives expressed support for a series of upcoming city council hearings on the proposed closure of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airports","category-ohio"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33888,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33887\/revisions\/33888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}