Airport seeks independent permitting for construction projects

Among the goals Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport President and CEO Rick Piccolo has set before retiring in 2025 is securing an independent permitting process for capital projects.

Piccolo appeared before the Sarasota County Legislative Delegation during its annual meeting Monday in the County Commission’s Ringling Boulevard meeting chamber, requesting its members consider sponsoring a bill that would allow the airport to bypass permitting processes of local governments.

The problem, Piccolo explained, isn’t a lack of cooperation, but rather the fact that the airport lies in three jurisdictions.

“As you enter the parking lot, you're in the city of Sarasota. As you cross the street into the terminal, you're in Sarasota County, and as you go down the concourse, you're now in Manatee County,” Piccolo said. “When you take off from one end of the runway, you're in Sarasota County, and as you lift off at the other end, you're in Manatee County. 

“You can imagine that it wasn't much of a problem permitting and building when we weren't growing very much, but we're growing tremendously, and it creates some tremendous problems.”

Piccolo said the airport is building infrastructure as quickly as possible to accommodate its growth needs, but dealing with permitting that sometimes involves multiple jurisdictions is problematic. He told the delegation he is seeking status similar to the school systems’ ability to permit their own capital projects, subject to compliance with Florida building codes and fire codes. 

“We’re not saying that we should be just be able to do anything we want," Piccolo said. "We’re just saying that we can handle this in-house ourselves and move these projects along quicker so that we can build the infrastructure that's necessary to serve the community.”

Piccolo was asked if he has spoken with local government executives regarding his request.

“Marlon (Brown) retired recently, but all three of them at the executive level said that they don't see an issue here from the standpoint that they're so busy with permitting everything they have to do,” Piccolo said. “We still have to follow federal and state (code). We’re heavily regulated, and we would have to comply.”

Representative Fiona McFarland, who is chair of the delegation for the coming legislative year, assigned herself as the sponsor of the airport’s bill. With that, relief could come in 2025.

“We all recognize the problem. You can't build half a baggage claim and then wait for the other half because the permitting schedule is off,” McFarland said. “I want to propose to the delegation today is that we vote on the commitment to move forward with this as a local bill. We're still finalizing the language, but if we could take a vote on pursuing this as a local bill this session, is there anyone opposed?”

Seeing no dissent, the bill will be introduced in the upcoming legislative session.