Plans to expand Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Johns County are under way.
The St. Johns River Water Management District received a pre-application March 25 permit to develop a 21.1-acre parcel at the airport for a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility.
Jacksonville-based architecture, engineering and construction firm Haskell submitted a pre-application for an environmental resources protection permit.
Haskell requests a meeting with the water management district to discuss the expansion.
St. Johns County Airport Authority Executive Director Jamie Topp said the facility would be developed and run by private jet operator Volato, which would operate under a lease agreement. It would include three or four hangars, parking, office space and fueling.
Volato is headquartered in Atlanta.
Topp said the facility could create an estimated 50 jobs.
In an April 1 statement, Haskell Aviation Market Lead Ben Hayes said the ERP meeting request is part of a preliminary site analysis, but declined further comment regarding the project, including timing.
Topp said the wetlands on the site would need to be filled in to develop the land.
“There’s a lot of water here,” he said.
The ERP program works to ensure “new construction does not reduce the benefits that wetlands provide, cause flooding or pollute waterways,” according to the water management district’s website.
Through a process called mitigation banking, Topp said the airport will need to buy credits to fill wetlands and build. Any wetlands lost must be restored at another site.
The airport authority discussed the need for those credits at its meeting March 25.
The Volato project is part of the airport’s master plan that represents development through 2030. Other planned projects include developing land north of it for additional hangars and eventually 1,000 acres west of the airport across U.S. 1 for “aviation-related businesses.”
“We don’t want a bunch of concrete and a distribution center,” he said.
Topp said engineering for the remainder of the master plan projects include Pond & Company, Michael Baker International and Passero Associates.
Northeast Florida Regional Airport is at 4900 U.S. 1 about 4 miles north of St. Augustine. There are 211 aircraft based there for charter flights and private service. It does not offer commercial flights.