FAA thwarts Fort Lauderdale's bid to keep Orioles in town: Orioles may leave Fort Lauderdale by...
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jul. 2--The Federal Aviation Administration has rejected Fort Lauderdale's request to be exempt from a $1.3 million annual payment for the upkeep of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in order to continue hosting spring training at adjacent Fort Lauderdale Stadium.
D. Kirk Shaffer, the agency's associate administrator for airports, also told Fort Lauderdale City Manager George Gretsas in a letter Wednesday that the airport land on which the stadium sits was deeded to the city for "public airport purposes and only airport purposes" and "the FAA did not approve and was not aware" it was being used as parkland.
The decision most likely means the Baltimore Orioles, who have held spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium for 13 years, will decline to pay the $1.3 million annually -- up from $70,000 to $120,000 they pay now -- and may exercise an option agreement to move to Dodgertown in Vero Beach. The team has agreed to return to Fort Lauderdale next spring, but could move as soon as 2010.
An Orioles spokesman declined to comment.
Fort Lauderdale officials hadn't studied the FAA's letter but have not given up hope of maintaining the decades-long tradition of spring training. Before the Orioles moved to the stadium in 1996, the New York Yankees trained there for the previous 34 years.
"We're extremely disappointed with this decision and believe it conflicts with decades of history," Fort Lauderdale spokesman Ted Lawson said. "We're considering appealing it to the Secretary of Transportation."
The Orioles have an agreement for a $40 million upgrade of Fort Lauderdale Stadium that would be paid for by the state, Broward County and the team, but it required FAA approval.
The FAA told the city in May that it would require the increased payment as fair market value for use of the airport land. The city submitted additional information last month requesting that it be exempt from that requirement.
In his response, Shaffer also urges the city to convert the property from parkland to "an airport zoning designation as soon as possible."
Sarah Talalay can be reached at stalalay@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4173.
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