CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Cleveland City Councilman Charles Slife says a series of hearings will be held to discuss the impact of closing Burke Lakefront Airport.
"I think a lot of people have been led to believe closing an airport is as easy as turning off a light switch and not only is it very difficult, but Burke's position on the lakefront landfill all of these other aspects make it a very unique site," Slife said. "I think instead of stringing the community along with a bunch of glossy renderings as we've kind of done for decades I think it's time we start brass tacks and explain to people how this could be done and most critically how it would impact the city's budget."
Slife emphasized shutting down the airport is not a simple task.
"We're going to start off with just talking about the lay of the land. People may not realize city hall is on Lakeside Avenue because it used to be right next to the lake. Everything north of there is landfill," Slife said. "So, there is complexities of building on landfill, there's prohibitions for the city selling lakefront land, there's state regulations, and all of these have consequences for building a new project."
In October, Mayor Justin Bibb and County Executive Chris Ronayne sent a letter to congressional members requesting assistance to close Burke.
Congresswoman Shontel Brown did an "unscientific" survey in November asking her constituents whether they support federal legislation to close the airport so that the site can be redeveloped.
She said among the 2,400 people who responded, a "very strong majority" support redeveloping the land.
"Our email survey confirmed what I have heard from constituents for years: a strong majority of people in Northeast Ohio support taking a serious look at the future of Burke Lakefront Airport and how it could better connect our communities to the lakefront," Brown said. "I appreciate the more than 2400 constituents who took the time to weigh in, and as the process continues, we will continue to engage constituents and stakeholders."
At one point, the Cleveland Browns claim they looked at Burke for a possible site for a new stadium, but the issues Slife has pointed out were too much to overcome.
Where the Brown's current stadium sits on the lakefront is slated for redevelopment once the team leaves for a domed stadium in Brook Park some time after the 2028 season.
"There are more near term efforts to develop where the Browns stadium currently is, the area immediately north of there. As far as developing Burke, I think that's to be determined," Slife said. "There are some who would say that we should do what they did in Chicago, which is basically close the airport overnight and just allow it to happen. I'm a little skeptical we can pull that off for a variety of reasons and what I want to make sure is that we are not making decisions in a vacuum. We are thinking critically about the taxpayer dollars that we are trusted with and that we are making sure the right decision is being made at the right speed instead of jumping the gun."
The hearings are scheduled to start on January 21.