Airport Relocation Protects West Bay

The relocation of the Panama City airport is one of the few projects of its magnitude designed to have a positive impact on the environment.

The Airport Authority showed tremendous foresight in making an early commitment to environmental protection as part of any relocation plan. The Bay County Commission, the State of Florida and the St. Joe Company joined with the Airport Authority to protect the West Bay watershed through the sector planning process.

As a result, the new airport will anchor the West Bay Sector Plan, a 75,000 acre long-term land use plan for northwestern Bay County. About 41,000 acres - more than 60 square miles - have been set aside to create the West Bay Preservation Area. So in the end, more than half of the West Bay Sector will be set aside for conservation. It includes nearly the entire shoreline of West Bay.

But it is all contingent on airport relocation. If for some reason the airport doesn't relocate, then St. Joe regains the existing development rights it holds for those lands.

Based on many conversations I've had with a number of local environmentalists, relocating the airport represents a good deal in return for permanent preservation of 40,000+ acres and long-term watershed protection.