PROPERTY VALUES AT RISK DUE TO AIRPORT
Editor, The Sun:
Regarding the Wakulla Airport, one wonders if the leadership of the county earnestly considers the impact of incremental actions affecting the market values of private property. That is, to some of the most highly valued waterfront homes in the county.
1) Tarpon Shores was platted in 1963, the same year as the donation by Fenton Jones of the site for the airstrip,
2) Our homes were built prior to Tarpine having been platted in 1981,
3) The airstrip was there for light aircraft and all was fine,
4) Subsequent purchasers of those homes also knew the airstrip was there for light aircraft – all still fine until the manipulations of certain personalities,
5) Actions and inactions by Wakulla Government has eroded the appeal and quiet enjoyment of our waterfront homes,
6) Value diminution of those properties will affect the taxing base thus shifting the burden to other rooftops of the citizenry,
7) We are prepared to demonstrate the value correlation of prime residential properties to airports from all around the state – there are FAA publications speaking to just this issue.
It is the cumulative effect of governmental decisions for which remedies exist,… costly remedies, particularly when applied to homes of higher value that are being undercut by decisions that nibble away..
Perhaps Wakulla is charmed to the extent to fulfill a dream. During a public meeting at the library a decade ago, when the possibility of the loss of our homes could occur as a result of the airport, it was expressed “Well, then we would have our seaplane basin,” spoken by the now county official, Airport Manager Steve Fults.
L. James Parham Ochlockonee Bay