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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2007

Updated: 09/07/2007 09:55 pm

ZEPHYRHILLS - Over the years, it's been seen as both a sleeping giant and a thorn in the city's side.

Most people agree, however, that Zephyrhills Municipal Airport has come a long way since the early 1990s, when lawsuits and political infighting mired the airport's reputation and its economic potential.

These days, if the long list of local pilots waiting for T-hangars there is any indication, Pasco County's only public airport is doing pretty well.

The city wants to keep it that way.

To safeguard the millions of dollars the city has invested in revitalizing the airport, city officials are mulling a special protection zone around the South Avenue facility that would protect the airport from encroaching development.

'The airport is vital to this community. It's important that we protect it. This zoning will do just that,' said Patrick Graham, chairman of the city's airport authority.

Fifteen years ago, there wasn't much to protect. The former World War II training base was in disrepair and in serious debt.

A change in management breathed new life into the airport. By 1995, it was attracting private recreational pilots as well as aviation and skydiving-related businesses. When Tampa Bay Executive Airport in Odessa closed in 2004, even more business shifted to Zephyrhills.

The waiting list for a T-hangar these days is 167 pilots long - so long that the city plans to add 70 new hangars to the airport this year. Plans are also in the works to extend a taxiway.

Although growth at the airport and its on-site industrial park generally is considered a good thing, nearby residents don't always agree. Right now, the airport is in an out-of-the-way location, surrounded mostly by pasture and other light industrial properties.

That doesn't mean developers haven't eyed property around the airport, though.

Two retiree mobile home parks have cropped up in the past five years. Last year, developers tried to persuade the city to approve more than 1,000 houses and retail development on a rock mine off Chancey Road. At the time, the airport authority and city staff members said a large housing development so close to the airport immediately would spark complaints once residents realized planes would be flying over their $300,000 homes all day.

The developer and the city went back and forth on that point; the developer eventually withdrew the proposal.

During that process, city officials realized there was little in writing to protect the airport.

The proposed ordinance, which the city council is expected to consider in the coming weeks, aims to do just that.

'The city feels like we have a valuable asset out there and think it's important we have one clear and defined ordinance out there that regulates what can and can't be done,' said Todd Vande Berg, the city's director of development services.

The new rules would require the airport manager to sign off on any proposed developments near the airport. Any developer who wanted to build within a certain distance of the airport would have to coordinate with the airport manager and the city planner.

The regulations would vary depending on the type of development proposed.

The city council still would have the final say.

'It's long overdue and necessary,' said Airport Manager Trina Sweet.

'We really did try to make it as workable for both sides as possible. We're not trying to make any unfair restrictions here.'

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

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