Draft of St. Paul airport safety zone is OK'd

Officials to present proposal, which dictates what can be built in the flight path of the Downtown Airport, at a public review next month.

By CHRIS HAVENS, Star Tribune

Last update: June 5, 2009 - 8:18 PM

A group of officials working on a plan to determine what can and cannot be built in the flight path of the St. Paul Downtown Airport on Friday approved a draft proposal for public review.

The plan, called a safety zone ordinance, is intended to minimize damage on the ground in case of a plane crash. The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) is responsible for leading the effort to implement the ordinance.

Coming up with a plan has been a balancing act, planners say, because they need to weigh public safety against economic development.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation, which administers aviation safety in the state, has established minimum safety standards that prohibit or limit what can be built in areas off runways. The plan for the St. Paul airport calls for less-restrictive development rules.

The plan would shorten an area immediately off the runways where nothing could be built and allow some building in long-established neighborhoods in areas farther away from the runways but still considered in the safety zone.

Those changes are consistent with safety zoning done at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in 2004, said Chad Leqve, a MAC manager. Leqve reviewed the draft Friday with members of the Joint Airport Zoning Board, the body charged with developing the safety zone ordinance for the airport. The board has members from St. Paul, South St. Paul and West St. Paul -- all cities that have a border with the airport zones -- and the MAC.

MnDOT Commissioner Tom Sorel will need to sign off on the final plan, and cities will then need to adopt it. The MAC will cover the cities' legal costs should property owners sue because of the ordinance.

A public review and comment period will run from July 1 to July 30. Copies of the draft will be available at the city halls in St. Paul, South St. Paul and West St. Paul, as well as on MAC and city websites.

A public hearing is set for 7 p.m. July 23. An open house and presentation will precede the hearing at 5 p.m. The hearing is tentatively scheduled at the airport's terminal building, 644 Bayfield St., St. Paul.

In the 1970s, the state passed a law that requires all airports to implement safety-zone ordinances. The plan for the St. Paul airport has slid up and down the priority list for about 30 years.

Chris Havens • 612-673-4148