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Aviation and Spaceports Office

Airport Compatible Land Use Guidance for Florida Communities

In March of 2010, Aviation and Spaceports Office staff has completed the process of putting together a new Florida Airport Compatible Land Use Guidebook.  The guidebook was a product of extensive stakeholder input from the early stages of the process.  The stakeholders’ group included representation from various governmental organizations, aviation and real estate industries, as well as non-governmental organizations with interest in aviation, planning, or governance.

The resulting product promotes airport land use compatibility and airspace protection in the State of Florida by focusing on the following:

• Calling attention to existing statutory requirements related to airspace protection and airport land use compatibility;
• Clarification of existing statutory requirements on airport protection zoning, and guidance on their implementation in local communities;
• Clarification of standards and principles underlying the airport protection zoning requirements;
• Proposal of methods available to discourage encroachment of incompatible land uses upon aviation facilities.

In December 2012, the guidebook has undergone extensive modifications that included the following:

• Updates to information reflecting most recent changes to federal and state laws and regulations;
• Update of the layout, graphics, outline and format to make the document easier to read and navigate;
• Expansion of the section on best practices, prevention, and mitigation of incompatible land uses;
• Update of the appendices to the most recent information and data.

Although the guidebook is intended to be a document accessible to a wide audience, the laws, regulations, and guidelines governing airspace and airport protection zoning in Florida are complex. With that in mind, the guidebook is supplemented by two additional documents: the guidebook brochure and the guidebook primer. While the brochure is useful for getting out the word about the existing guidebook by handing it out to interested parties at meetings and events, the primer focuses on giving a brief, top-level overview of laws, regulations, issues and solutions to matters related to airport land use compatibility. All of the above-referenced publications can be located on the FDOT Aviation Publications-Florida page.

Due to the complex nature of three-dimensional airspace obstruction surfaces, displaying them on a two-dimensional map is highly challenging. However, as a part of Compatible Land Use Project, the Aviation and Spaceports Office staff has developed and can issue maps developed in accordance with requirements of Ch. 333.03(1)(d), F.S. These maps show the extent of the area around public-use aviation facilities that may be subject to airport protection zoning and tall structure notification criteria. Please contact the Airspace and Land Use Manager at the FDOT Aviation and Spaceports Office at 850-414-4500, if you would like to receive an electronic copy of a map for your local community, or if you have any other questions related to Airport Compatible Land Use.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has developed guidance for airport land use compatibility. If you would like to receive additional information, please contact the FAA Planning and Environmental Division at (202) 267-3263.

The Department of Defense has issued guidance on planning in vicinity of military air installations. If you would like to receive additional information, please refer to the Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 4165.57.