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| Commissioners discuss airstrip |
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| News - Linn County News | |||
| Written by Chase Jordan | |||
| Wednesday, 10 December 2008 18:11 | |||
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Commissioners and concern citizens discussed a proposed conditional-use permit for a proposed airstrip near Pleasanton on Monday. The Linn County Planning and Zoning Board approved the CUP by a vote of 6-2 in November. Nick Porto, of Baty, Holm and Numrich, P.C., a Kansas City-based law firm representing residents in opposition against the CUP presented information about the proposed airstrip. He mentioned commissioner Nick Sabine served on the Runway Advisory committee and said it would be a conflict of interest if he voted on the issue. He requested Sabine excuse himself in regards to the airstrip. “There was a separate site selection committee that was appointed in which I was not a part of that chose the site,” Sabine said. “So as far as being involved in the site selection, I was not involved in any of that.” Porto stated why people were opposed to the airstrip. “All we know is that there’s a line on a map that’s apparently going to be, an airport and from there who knows,” Port said. “No one has talked about how much air traffic it’s going to be and from the very beginning the Runway Advisory Committee has made a point trying to separate the development of an industrial park from the application for the conditional use permit.” During the meeting on Monday, some of the concerns from residents included illegal drug trafficking, pollution and noise. One audience member had an idea about letting taxpayers vote for the proposed airstrip. Other residents felt the runway can have a positive economic impact on the county. On May 15, the Runway Advisory Committee, a seven-person group appointed by the Pleasanton City Council and the county commission, applied for the permit. According to an application with the Kansas Airport Improvement program, the proposal includes areas where the airstrip could be lengthened to as long as 5,000 feet for future expansion. Initial plans are for a 3,000-foot-long airstrip, which would replace the deteriorating Gilmore Airport runway that has been in service for 30 years. The property is currently owned by Edmund Glen Arnold and Charles Conley. Larry Robinson, planning and zoning administrator for Linn County, presented a report about the airstrip to the commission on his recommendations. According to the document, there were 37 written comments received in preparation for the report. Twenty-six of the written comments were considered to be in opposition and 11 were in support of approval of the airstrip CUP. Some of the staff recommendations include several factors: character of the neighborhood, zoning and use of nearby properties, suitability of the property to its present and proposed use and the affect the proposed use would have on nearby property. “It doesn’t take a whole lot of common sense to figure out that building an airport and industrial park in an agriculture setting disrupt the character of the neighborhood,” Porto said. “That’s a fact that was pointed to repeatedly in the 26 letters of opposition. I think it would be an error for the county commissioners to disregard these letters.”
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