U.S. Bars Airport Near the Everglades
By DANA CANEDY
MIAMI, Jan. 16 -  In a victory for environmental groups and a blow to Miami-Dade County officials, the Clinton administration rejected a plan today to convert the former Homestead Air Force Base into a commercial airport and instead approved the property for more limited development. The decision comes after a protracted battle over the fate of the site, which is near two national parks: the Everglades, about 10 miles to the west, and Biscayne National Park, two miles to the east. Miami-Dade County and developers, backed by the county's mayor, Alex Penelas, want to use the property for a new airport to ease congestion from Miami International Airport. Environmental groups have vigorously fought the plan, contending that it would pose a threat to the two parks with air and noise pollution. In announcing the decision today to permit only limited commercial use of the land, the Air Force said it had sought to balance environmental protection and economic development. ''Although we clearly are not giving the county what it sought,'' said F. Whitten Peters, secretary of the Air Force, ''we are, to the greatest extent possible under the circumstances, attempting to leave future development decisions at the former base in the hands of local citizens, through their elected representatives.'' Environmental groups praised the decision, calling it an important protection for the grassland, marsh, reefs and barrier islands in the national parks. ''This decision is a victory for common sense and public input over special interests,'' said Bradford Sewell, lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which was joined by the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation and nearly 50 other environmental groups in opposing the airport plan. Many state and local elected officials also opposed it, as did Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Carol Browner, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Homestead Air Base Developers, the group proposing to develop a commercial airport at the site, said it planned to fight the decision in federal court. Mayor Penelas, among the strongest local supporters of the airport, said he was disappointed by the decision not to allow it. ''We're going to have an airfield capacity shortfall in about 12 to 15 years, and we need to prepare for that,'' he said. The mayor added that the Homestead airport proposal was the most ideal solution and that he would not have supported the proposal had he believed it would pose an environmental threat. Other proponents of the airport plan denounced the Clinton administration's decision. ''Basically we view this as a political decision not based in either science or law,'' said Ramon Rasco, general counsel for Homestead Air Base Developers. ''All of the studies over all of these years and all of the millions of dollars spent very clearly show that you can have an airport there that will be compatible with the Everglades and the environment,'' Mr. Rasco said. The airport proposal began in 1992, after Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead, a town about 25 miles south of Miami. Thousands of jobs were lost and the Air Force closed the base, dealing another blow to the local economy. In 1994, the Air Force decided to turn the land over to the county for use as an airport. The plan was intended to relieve congestion at the Miami airport and to help spur development in Homestead. But the plan was fraught with controversy from the start. In 1996, the Miami-Dade County Commission, with the support of Mayor Penelas, awarded a 70-year lease for the airport's development to Homestead Air Base Developers, a group of politically connected local developers. Environmental groups fought back, saying the airport would generate noise and air pollution that could harm the Everglades. The following year, the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration decided to study the proposal and then reversed earlier approval of the airport. The decision announced today, in which the Air Force will retain the runway and taxiways at Homestead but transfer the additional 700 acres to the county, seems to support a plan by a separate group of developers. They want to use the land for office and industrial parks, a golf course, water parks and an aquarium, hotels, shops and restaurants. ''Over time, it became clear that a commercial airport is not the only way of achieving desired economic development of southern Miami-Dade County,'' said Ruby B. DeMesme, assistant secretary of the Air Force, who signed the decision. ''The choice is no longer simply between an airport and economic stagnation.'' Map of Florida highlighting Homestead Air Force Base: The former Homestead air base is near two national parks. Inside NYTimes.com Health " Too Hot to Handle