“Gulf Shores” is the neighborhood just off the departure end of the northwest runway (Runway 31) of the Venice Municipal Airport.

The FAA mandates that Runway 31 (like every runway at every airport) must have a trapezoidal shaped zone of designated airspace just off the end of, and centered longitudinally on the runway. The shortest side of the trapezoid is the closest to the runway and is arranged perpendicular to the runway’s longitudinal axis. The longest sides of the trapezoid extend divergently outward from the end of the runway to meet the longer parallel side.

The FAA term for this trapezoidal shaped designated air space is a Runway Protection Zone or “RPZ”. The size of an RPZ is, in general, based on the size of the largest aircraft that uses the runway and the type of approach, visual or instrument, associated with the runway.

Basically, the larger the aircraft that uses the runway, the larger the RPZ and instrument approaches require larger RPZ than visual approaches.

Instrument approaches allow the aircraft to approach the runway for landing during periods of reduced visibility.

Under contemporary FAA airport design standards, the RPZ on the Gulf Shores end of Runway 31 overlays a number of the homes in that neighborhood.

Some concerns have been advanced regarding this RPZ by some members of City Council and Airport critics such as:

• That the FAA could mandate that the homes in the RPZ would be taken by condemnation and destroyed.

• That the existence of the RPZ could adversely affect property values.

• That residents should not have to endure an RPZ that “was never there before”.

In point of fact, these arguments are specious in nature because:

• The FAA wrote to the Mayor on May 30^th, 2008 and clearly stated that “Residential land use within the RPZ, while not recommended, does not create a non-standard condition. As indicated during our meeting, the FAA would not require the City of Venice to acquire homes located in the RPZ”. (Read the letter for yourself.)

• The South ½ Section 13, Township 39, Range 18 Sarasota County map clearly indicates that the residents of Gulf Shores (as well as some residents in the southern portion of Golden Beach) have lived in designated airspace, similar in shape to an RPZ, since the mid 1960s (see the map for yourself.).

• VABA has located copies of the Venice Municipal Airport 1962 & 1967 Airport Layout Plans that clearly indicate that an RPZ has existed over Gulf Shores for at least 45 years.  As soon as these ALP's have been digitized the images will be made available here.

• Notwithstanding recent market corrections, the properties in this area have increased in value steadily.