By Jennifer Sorentrue
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 5:13 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011
Donald Trump has dropped his lawsuit to stop the potential expansion of Palm Beach International Airport.
In a letter sent to Palm Beach County officials this week, Trump's attorney, John Marion IV, said the real estate mogul decided to withdraw the suit after airport managers agreed not to disband a series of noise monitors around PBIA and the advisory committee overseeing them.
The airport has shelved plans to build another commercial runway because of a significant drop in air traffic.
Trump filed suit in 2010 asking that the runway plan be blocked and that airplanes be prevented from flying over his Mar-a-Largo residence and club. A judge rejected the bulk of the suit in December, but said it could be refiled, which Trump's attorneys did.
In his letter to the county, Marion warned that another suit may be filed if airport mangers resume their pursuit of an airport expansion.
"Since the reason Mr. Trump filed this lawsuit in the first place was to protect the citizens of Palm Beach County affected by unreasonable airport traffic and noise, and since it is now apparent that the county has abandoned or put the very things that threatened those citizens on indefinite hold, Mr. Trump has decided to dismiss the case for now," Marion wrote. "However, he will not hesitate to file a similar action in the future should the county again take action which threatens county residents with unreasonable airport noise and traffic."
PBIA Spokeswoman Casandra Davis declined to comment on Trump's withdrawal.
In February the Federal Aviation Administration said that traffic at PBIA would have to increase dramatically before the county could move forward with a runway expansion. Officials said they would consider approving the runway's construction only when air traffic at the airport reaches levels that would cause "unacceptable" delays.
Meanwhile, County Airports Director Bruce Pelly last month withdrew his recommendation to dismantle the airport's noise monitoring system and the county's Citizens Committee on Airport Noise. After hearing from a crowd of angry residents, Pelly said it was clear that he would not have the support of the county commission.
Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com
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