Dania Beach Accepts Airport Expansion Settlement
DANIA BEACH (CBS4) – It's official. The city of Dania Beach has agreed to an unprecedented settlement with Broward County over a runway expansion at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.
The decision settles years of litigation and provides a historic offer to residents living near the airport -- money if they agree not to sue.
Despite the protests of some vocal residents, Dania Beach City Commissioners unanimously approved a plan Tuesday to end nearly two decades of legal action, paving the way for the nearly $800 million dollar project to proceed.
"The settlement is the right thing because it gets benefits for residents that they otherwise would not get," said attorney Neal Mcaliley, who helped the city negotiate the agreement with the county.
The plan -- if approved by the Federal Aviation Administration -- will provide soundproof windows and doors for 17-hundred homes. The plan would also offer cash payments to more than 850 homeowners of 20 percent of the value of their homes. However, the residents must agree not to sue the county or the FAA over increased noise. The deal would also extend to whoever lives in the home in the future.
The deal approved by the city would also help some homeowners sell their homes.
But some residents -- still wearing their red "No Airport Expansion" t-shirts -- fear the loss of quality of life.
"They're blocking us in our house," said Betty Sokol, who bought her home in Melaleuca Gardens in 1999. "They're putting us in our house to stay."
Bob DelChiocca also lives in Meleauca Gradens. He says the sound from even small planes is horrible.
"I can't have a conversation in my backyard," DelChiocca said. "I can't sit in my patio and listen to a television or a radio when a plane goes over."
Plus DelChiocca says he lives just outside the noise threshold determined by the FAA. That means even though some of his neighbors will get a cash payment or sales assistance, he won't.
"I'm upset that I'm not entitled to anything," he said. "But I don't begrudge my neighbors. They've certainly entitled to it. This runway has been a pain for everyone in Dania Beach for a number of years."
Broward County commissioners must approve this agreement. Then, the FAA has to approve it. If the FAA balks at some of these proposals, the city has the right to opt out of the agreement.
The agreement is only binding on the city of Dania Beach, which means individual residents do not need to take the offer and can still sue over the airport expansion.
