A pilot is continuing his quest to open Palm Beach County Park Airport in Lantana, Florida (LNA), to jet aircraft, reiterating in his latest Part 16 filing that Palm Beach County is violating its grant assurances by refusing to make the airport available for public use without unjust discrimination.
Errol Forman filed the Part 16 complaint against the county last summer after the FAA determined that jets can safely land at one of the airport’s three runways (Runway 9-27) and asked the county on three occasions to “update information regarding its restriction on jet operations at LNA.” The county, however, did not alter the ban, saying that the requests do not constitute a formal directive from the agency.
The county has urged the FAA to dismiss the Part 16 complaint, defending the ban as grandfathered under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990, questioning whether Forman has met the burden of proof of the complaint, and stressing that it remains in compliance with the grant assurances.
But in a December 29 response, Forman disputed the county's claims, saying, they echo “the same worn arguments that have previously failed” and “despite the plethora of pleadings, motions, and memoranda, this is a simple case.” The county has unlawfully excluded turbofan aircraft from LNA, Forman added in the response. Filed by attorney Alan Armstrong, Forman’s response continued that the county is aware of the agency's finding and that “the FAA is the final arbiter of air safety.” Further, the county has been given multiple opportunities to rescind the jet ban, but has refused. “Accordingly, the director must make a formal determination that the respondents have violated Grant Assurance No. 22(a),” Forman concluded.