The Northeast Florida Regional Airport | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today.
Published on January 10, 2025 at 2:20 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
The Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Augustine wants to bring back the simpler name the airport had 15 years ago.
In 2010, the Florida Legislature approved changing the airport’s name from the St. Augustine Airport to the Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Augustine. That name was shortened slightly to just the Northeast Florida Regional Airport in 2016.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
These days, the St. Johns County Airport Authority says the name is more confusing than anything.
Interim Executive Director Courtney Pittman asked the St. Johns County legislative delegation Friday for help in getting the name change through the state Legislature.
The request was one of many issues that residents, public officials and nonprofit leaders highlighted during a priority-setting meeting with local lawmakers.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Pittman said he could understand why the airport got its name.
“At that time, the thinking was … they would have more impact for commercial service by saying that we’re attached to the region,” Pittman said. “But then you would have people get on said commercial flights at that time, land here in St. Augustine and think that they (were) in Jacksonville.”
Pittman said connecting the airport’s identity to St. Augustine will make travelers and clients think of the “culturally rich” city of St. Augustine.
“This is more than just a name change,” he said. “It’s a strategic step forward, aligning our airport with one of the most iconic and historic cities in the nation: St. Augustine.”
The simpler name also will give the airport flexibility to adapt in the changing world of aviation, Pittman said. The Airport Authority hopes to see a commercial airline at the airport someday, and Pittman said they don’t want to have to change their name again when that happens.
Besides the airport
Among other legislative priorities:
- Members of the St. Johns County Commission requested funding for the county’s aging Medical Examiner’s Office, flood mitigation in North Beach and traffic projects that would reduce congestion around World Golf Village.
- County Commission Chair Krista Joseph urged legislators to reconsider the Live Local Act — a controversial measure that incentivizes developers to build affordable housing in areas that counties have not previously identified for residential housing. She also asked for help keeping the county’s rural areas free of development.
- Property Appraiser Eddie Creamer said the increasing cost of housing and property insurance is pricing out seniors in St. Johns County. Creamer said he would support “any measure that lowers property taxes for our residents,” including a law that exempts seniors from paying school taxes.
High property insurance costs have been a hot topic in Florida for years. St. Augustine Democratic Club President Nell Toensman accused legislators of fomenting culture wars over solving the issue. But Sen. Tom Leek, R-St. Augustine, defended the state’s progress on keeping property insurance costs level.
The state has done what it can, Leek said, but “the rampant inflation that’s occurred over the last four years” is keeping property insurance rates high.
“So while your premium might not have gone down as much as you like or not gone down at all, the rates, which is the piece we can control, have gone down,” Leek said. “What we’ve got to get under control in the state of Florida and nationally is inflation.”
The legislative session
The Florida Legislature will begin its 2025 session March 5. In the meantime, legislators are already filing bills.
Rep. Kim Kendall, R-St. Augustine, has filed a bill that would change the definition of “hazardous walking conditions” for students heading to school to include walkways along highways, freeways or entrance and exit ramps regardless of the speed limit.
Other bills already filed include controversial measures from Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, that would lower the age to purchase firearms in Florida to 18 and ban flags supporting LGBTQ pride and the Black Lives Matter movement from being displayed in or on public buildings.
Fine is running for U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz’s congressional seat, which includes parts of St. Johns County.
