The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected a proposal Tuesday to bring commercial passenger flights to Lawrenceville’s Briscoe Field.
The commissioners also voted 4-0 to withdraw Gwinnett’s preliminary application to the Federal Aviation Administration to privatize the airport, effectively ending the latest debate over the airport’s fate.
With those votes, dreams of creating a second major airport in metro Atlanta anytime soon evaporated.
More than 300 people packed the auditorium at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, and most cheered the board's votes. Many portrayed the decisions as a victory for ordinary residents over powerful interests.
“The citizens of Gwinnett have been heard over the clatter of coin,” said Larry Yates, vice president of the Rivershyre Homeowners Association in Lawrenceville.
Propeller Investments wanted to begin flights from Lawrenceville to New York, Chicago and other cities. Company officials blistered commissioners after Tuesday’s votes. They said the company spent more than $2 million during a county proposal process they believe was unfair.
“You wasted a lot of people’s money,” managing director Brett Smith told commissioners.
The contentious debate has consumed Georgia’s second-largest county for more than two years.
New York-based Propeller has been lobbying to bring up to 20 commercial passenger flights a day to Briscoe Field. The company said it would build 10 gates, extend the airport’s runway and use Boeing 737s seating up to 140 people.
Propeller enlisted Aeroports de Paris -- which runs Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and some two dozen other facilities worldwide -- to operate Briscoe. And it guaranteed Gwinnett at least $500,000 annually in revenue.
But a staff review found Propeller’s proposal lacked key financial information and other details.
Among other things, the company failed to provide sufficient information on projected revenue, needed capital improvements and expected traffic volumes, according to the staff report. And the guaranteed $500,000 would not be adjusted for inflation over the life of the 50-year airport lease.
Commissioners never endorsed Propeller’s plans. But in 2010 they sought and received the FAA’s preliminary approval to sell or lease Briscoe Field.
The five-member commission had been split on the proposal -- which needed three votes to pass -- for more than a year, with two members opposed and three saying they were keeping an open mind.
But then Commissioner Shirley Lasseter -- a potential “yes” vote for Propeller -- resigned last week after pleading guilty to a federal bribery charge. The other two undecided commissioners ultimately agreed the proposal was lacking.
Commissioner Mike Beaudreau said he was swayed by concerns about Gwinnett’s potential financial liability if Propeller’s privatization plan didn’t work. He said he also worried about noise and other potential harm to surrounding neighborhoods.
Commissioner Lynette Howard said the staff recommendation to reject Propeller’s proposal persuaded her to vote against it.
“I said it needed to go through the scientific [review] process,” Howard said. “I have great faith in our staff.”
Chairwoman Charlotte Nash and Commissioner John Heard opposed Propeller’s plans from the beginning, citing potential financial liabilities and the impact on surrounding neighborhoods.
Proponents said commercial passenger flights would create jobs and provide an alternative to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They mounted a late campaign to persuade commissioners to delay a decision in light of Lasseter’s resignation and to put the issue to voters in November.
Nash said the county has no legal mechanism for holding such a vote. Ultimately, she said, the decision was the responsibility of the commissioners.
“There’s been more public input on this decision than on many, many decisions we make,” Nash said.
Propeller’s attorney, Douglas Dillard, said many of the criticisms in the staff report were not raised during the county’s vetting process. He said the company’s plans didn’t get a fair hearing.
Smith was more blunt.
“It’s no wonder people don’t do more projects like this,” he said. “Who wants to put up with this garbage?”
Nash said the county stuck by well-established purchasing rules.
Tuesday’s vote marked the conclusion of Gwinnett’s latest debate over the fate of Briscoe Field.
In 1991 the county airport authority scrapped plans to study commercial air service there after local residents objected.
In 1994 the state announced plans to install up to 33 gates at Briscoe Field to accommodate overflow traffic from Hartsfield-Jackson. Thousands of people packed public hearings, and then-Gov. Zell Miller rejected the expansion plan.
Even as they celebrated their latest victory, opponents of an airport expansion were wary the issue could be revived.
“There needs to be a permanent solution,” said Jim Regan of Citizens for a Better Gwinnett. “This needs to be the last time.”
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