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Zephyrhills Plans To Improve, Protect Municipal Airport

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 17, 2007

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

Most people agree, however, that the 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 here is any indication, Pasco County's only public airport is doing pretty well.

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 guard the airport from encroaching development.
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 the 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 hangars to the airport this year. Plans are also in the works to extend a taxiway.

Nicola M. White

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