Citizen Participation
in the PDK Airport Master Plan
Status of Board of Commissioners (BOC) requirements
for the master plan relative to citizen participation
To understand community concerns, you must go back to the
unanimous requirements placed on the
Master
Plan process by the BOC when it
approved project The requirements are shown directly and these are discussed
point by point from the point of view of some citizens who will be affected
by the results of the Master Plan.
1. Administration and staff/aviation consultants will follow
the spirit and intent of the FAA Advisory Circular related to master plans. Specifically
mentioned were:
Section 2. Clearly addresses plan acceptance and the
right of citizens to be actively involved in molding the plans which will affect
their future is fundamental. To be effective, this involvement must begin
early enough in the planning program to assert a real influence over its direction
and decisions.
( Comment - This was accomplished by the Consultants
but we do not feel the AAB gave any public consideration to most of the comments
presented by and submitted by citizens.)
Section 3. b. Emphasis is placed upon early involvement of citizens
and on the early identification
of potentially controversial issues or choices.
( Comment - Citizens attempted to inject specific and
controversial issues but these are not discussed by the Consultant nor addressed
by the AAB. The AAB let comments by presented but they did not discuss
most of them and did not really consider them.)
Section 4. a. Citizen participation is defined as an
open process in which the rights of citizens to be informed, to influence,
and to receive and adequate response from government are reflected and in which
a cross section of affected citizens interact with appointed and elected officials
on all issue(s) of planning and development.
Section 5.a. Controversy should be minimized by identifying
and resolving issues via citizen involvement before they become controversial.
( Comment - Same as those in 3.b. above.)
Section 5.b. Citizen involvement has its greatest effect
during the formative stages of the planning process, before irreversible decisions
have been made and while the maximum number of alternative actions are still
available.
(Comment - The proposed mission and policy statement
will drive the Master Plan
planners. If
this guidance is not described sufficiently, the constraints placed on the planners
is very limited. This is the major deficiency in the process to date.)
Section 6.a. Even very small airports can have very
sensitive problems which would likely generate considerable public interest.
( Comment - This is obviously true in the PDK Master
Plan process and it is our desire to have all of these considered during the
process. Thus, clear guidance from the BOC is essential to drive the
process.)
2. Staff/aviation consultants will develop a citizen participation
proposal prior to any planning effort Citizen participation proposal
will be reviewed by and approved by the Airport Advisory Board and presented
to the Board of Commissioners for consideration.
( Comments - The Consultants made a presentation and
chart visual to the AAB and they adopted the proposed process. The center of
the process is citizen participation. We do not feel the AAB gave citizen
participation any of the emphasis it agreed to. They let the public attending
their meeting present items but most of these were not discussed. Hence,
we feel the public was left out of the process to develop the mission and core
policy items.)
3. Citizen participation in the planning process will be
open to all citizens of DeKalb County and airport users.
Comment - This part of the process did not deny any
citizen the right to express concerns. Two major concerns were the total,
as far as we know, absence of seeking citizen input. As members of PDK
Watch, we were specifically sought out by the consultants. As citizens
who attend AAB meetins with some regularity, we were able to input issues but
these were generally not discussed.)
4. Item 4. was deleted by the BOC.
5. Key steps in the planning process will be identified by
staff/aviation consultants and action and recommendation reports shall
be presented for discussion by the Airport Advisory Board and the Board of
Commissioners.
( Comment - This was accomplished at the AAB meeting.)
6. These key steps will be presented to the public by placing
them on the web prior to decisions being made.
( Comment - The only item placed on the web was a note
to airport users from the airport director that invited airport users to a
meeting to meet the Consultants and provide input.)
7. The final draft of the Airport Master Plan will be presented
..
( Comment - This is a future action.)
8. The Federal Aviation Administration will be invited to
and encouraged to be an active participant in this process ...
( Comment - we do not know the status of this requirement. To
our knowledge, the FAA has not participated in any of the AAB sessions.)
9. To guide the planning process, the Board of Commissioners
will receive the recommendation of the AAB for a vision or policy statement
defining the policy of the Board of Commissioners relative to the future direction
of the Airport which shall be used to guide the planning process.
