1. (1) SITE APPROVALS; REQUIREMENTS, FEES, EFFECTIVE PERIOD, REVOCATION.--

   1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (3), the owner or lessee of any proposed airport shall, prior to the acquisition of the site or prior to the construction or establishment of the proposed airport, obtain approval of the airport site from the department. Applications for approval of a site and for an original license shall be jointly made on a form prescribed by the department and shall be accompanied by a site approval fee of $100. The department, after inspection of the airport site, shall grant the site approval if it is satisfied:

      1. That the site is adequate for the proposed airport;

      2. That the proposed airport, if constructed or established, will conform to minimum standards of safety and will comply with applicable county or municipal zoning requirements;

      3. That all nearby airports, municipalities, and property owners have been notified and any comments submitted by them have been given adequate consideration; and

      4. That safe air-traffic patterns can be worked out for the proposed airport and for all existing airports and approved airport sites in its vicinity.

   2. (b) Site approval may be granted subject to any reasonable conditions which the department may deem necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare. Such approval shall remain in effect for a period of 2 years after the date of issuance of the site approval order, unless sooner revoked by the department or unless, prior to the expiration of the 2-year period, a license for an airport located on the approved site has been issued pursuant to subsection (2). A site approval may be extended for a maximum of 2 years upon good cause shown by the owner or lessee of the airport site.

   3. (c) The department may revoke such approval if it determines:

      1. That there has been an abandonment of the site as an airport site;

      2. That there has been a failure within a reasonable time to develop the site as an airport or to comply with the conditions of the approval;

      3. That the operation of aircraft of a nonemergency nature has occurred on the site; or

      4. That, because of changed physical or legal conditions or circumstances, the site is no longer usable for the aviation purposes for which the approval was granted.

2. (2) LICENSES; REQUIREMENTS, FEES, RENEWAL, REVOCATION.--

   1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (3), the owner or lessee of an airport in this state must obtain a license prior to the operation of aircraft on the airport. An application for such license shall be made on a form prescribed by the department and shall be accomplished jointly with an application for site approval. Upon granting site approval, making a favorable final airport inspection report indicating compliance with all license requirements, and receiving the appropriate license fee, the department shall issue a license to the applicant, subject to any reasonable conditions that the department may deem necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare.
   2. (b) The department is authorized to license an airport that does not meet all of the minimum standards only if it determines that such exception is justified by unusual circumstances or is in the interest of public convenience and does not endanger the public health, safety, or welfare. Such a license shall bear the designation "special" and shall state the conditions subject to which the license is granted.
   3. (c) The department may authorize a site as a temporary airport if it finds, after inspection of the site, that the airport will not endanger the public health, safety, or welfare. Such authorization shall expire not later than 90 days after issuance and is not renewable.

   4. (d) The license fees for the four categories of airport licenses are:

      1. Public airport: $100.

      2. Private airport: $70.

      3. Limited airport: $50.

      4. Temporary airport: $25. Airports owned or operated by the state, a county, or a municipality and emergency helistops operated by licensed hospitals are required to be licensed but are exempt from the payment of site approval fees and annual license fees.

   5. (e) 1. Each public airport license will expire no later than 1 year after the effective date of the license, except that the expiration date of a license may be adjusted to provide a maximum license period of 18 months to facilitate airport inspections, recognize seasonal airport operations, or improve administrative efficiency. If the expiration date for a public airport is adjusted, the appropriate license fee shall be determined by prorating the annual fee based on the length of the adjusted license period.

      2. The license period for all airports other than public airports will be set by the department, but shall not exceed a period of 5 years. In determining the license period for such airports, the department shall consider the number of based aircraft, the airport location relative to adjacent land uses and other airports, and any other factors deemed by the department to be critical to airport operation and safety.

      3. The effective date and expiration date shall be stated on the face of the license. Upon receiving an application for renewal of a license on a form prescribed by the department, making a favorable inspection report indicating compliance with all applicable requirements and conditions, and receiving the appropriate annual license fee, the department shall renew the license, subject to any conditions deemed necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare.

      4. The department may require site approval for an airport if the license of the airport has not been renewed by the expiration date.

      5. If the renewal application and fees have not been received by the department within 15 days after the date of expiration of the license, the department may close the airport.

   6. (f) The department may revoke any license or renewal thereof, or refuse to issue a renewal, if it determines:

      1. That there has been an abandonment of the airport as such;

      2. That there has been a failure to comply with the conditions of the license or renewal thereof; or

      3. That, because of changed physical or legal conditions or circumstances, the airport has become either unsafe or unusable for the aeronautical purposes for which the license or renewal was issued.

3. (3) EXEMPTIONS.--The provisions of this section do not apply to:

   1. (a) An airport owned or operated by the United States.
   2. (b) An ultralight aircraft landing area; except that any public ultralight airport located within 5 nautical miles of another public airport or military airport or any ultralight landing area with more than 10 ultralight aircraft operating from the site is subject to the provisions of this section.
   3. (c) A helistop used solely in conjunction with a construction project undertaken pursuant to the performance of a state contract if the purpose of the helicopter operations at the site is to expedite construction.
   4. (d) An airport under the jurisdiction or control of a county or municipal aviation authority or a county or municipal port authority; however, the department shall license any such airport if such authority does not elect to exercise its exemption under this subsection.
   5. (e) A helistop used by mosquito control or emergency services, not to include areas where permanent facilities are installed, such as hospital landing sites.

History.--s. 4, ch. 24046, 1947; s. 1, ch. 61-215; s. 2, ch. 65-178; ss. 23, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 56, ch. 78-95; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 3, 9, 10, ch. 84-205; s. 24, ch. 86-243; s. 14, ch. 87-225; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 19, ch. 94-237; s. 15, ch. 95-257; s. 1, ch. 95-412.