Airport ordinance a weighty endeavor

It will take a lot for the county to get a new airport weight ordinance passed, and not a lot for those who oppose any ordinance to challenge it.

On Thursday county officials presented three options for increasing the weight limit at the airport.

The first option strips the ordinance down to its essentials. The second option would include limits on the airport's growth. The third would include noise as an issue and require an environmental review for developments at the airport.

All three options would require those who land overweight aircraft at the airport to pay a landing fee.

But even as the first glimpses of an airport ordinance are revealed, some are saying we don't need to increase the weight limit. Those folks say that voters should reject the proposal, and the county should fight the federal government.

There are also some who oppose any weight limit at all. They may have the easiest challenge of all. They don't have to sell their position to voters.

All they have to do is keep landing aircraft that violate the ordinance at the airport, and dare the county to cite them.

That's why whatever ordinance the county or other entity takes must be bulletproofed against legal action.