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Resident urges landing fees at Ormond Beach airport; staff says FAA, state guidance limit immediate action
Summary
A resident urged the commission to consider charging landing or operations fees at Ormond Beach Municipal Airport to generate revenue and reduce noise and lead exposure. City staff said Florida law and FAA nondiscrimination rules complicate implementing landing fees and the item remains with the Aviation Advisory Board pending guidance.
A resident told the Ormond Beach City Commission that the municipal airport operates as a long‑running net cost to the city and urged commissioners to consider charging landing or operations fees for flight training traffic.
"If you want a revenue stream, there's one that other cities are utilizing," resident Sean Daley said, proposing a $5 operations or landing fee that he estimated "would generate $10 each time they came and did another touch and go at our airport." Daley told the commission that flight‑training planes frequently fly before 8 a.m. in contravention of noise‑abatement guidance and also raised health concerns about leaded aviation fuel spreading over neighborhoods.
Commissioner Travis Sargent asked staff for an update. Brian Rademacher, director of economic development, said staff planned to bring the item to the Aviation Advisory Board but are awaiting clarification following changes in Florida law. Rademacher said a recent state transportation bill includes language exempting four‑year academic institutions that provide flight training (for example, Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University) from landing‑fee assessments for educational operations. He said that because airports must observe nondiscrimination assurances to the FAA, assessing landing fees on some operators but not others could be viewed as discriminatory. "So we're right now...waiting for direction from the FAA and the state legislature...on how airports in Florida can handle the situation," Rademacher said.
Rademacher estimated flight training accounts for roughly 50% of operations at the airport and said the city will bring a formal proposal back to the Aviation Advisory Board when clearer guidance is available.
Why this matters: The airport is a recurring line item in local budgeting conversations; charging landing or operations fees could create local revenue but raises legal and federal compliance issues. Residents raised noise, safety and pollution concerns that the commission directed staff to continue exploring within federal and state constraints.
Sources: Public comment from Sean Daley and staff briefing by Brian Rademacher at the Ormond Beach City Commission meeting, Aug. 19, 2025.
