[Don B.]

^ This isn't new news. Phoenix has always had a 500 foot cap over downtown because of the FAA.

Downtown Phoenix sits at an altitude of about 1,090 feet above MSL (mean sea level). The FAA has the lower emergency flight path restriction for flights coming to or from the west, where downtown sits, at 1,600 MSL. Hence, the so-called cap. I know this because on my recent helicopter trip over downtown Phoenix, the pilot was warned to stay below 1,600 MSL as he flew under the flight paths at Sky Harbor.

Understand that the planes are actually much higher than this when they pass over downtown, but this emergency issue is so pilots have a chance to recover, especially if they lose an engine on takeoff.

Phoenix could approve zoning for a taller tower, but the fear is that the FAA would then limit the weight of planes on takeoff, especially during the hot summer months, and that could adversely affect the airlines and the airport, which is considered Phoenix's golden goose.

Note that further north along Central, theoretically the FAA wouldn't care how tall a building was, so Phoenix still could get a 600 to 700 footer someday, assuming the lunimbys didn't kill it.

--don