The Frederick Airport Commission will recommend that the city not rezone a development near the municipal airport for mixed use.
The Renn Farm development, which includes plans for 1,050 residences, will go before the Frederick Board of Aldermen at a workshop Wednesday.
The area is zoned light industrial, so changing the status paves the way for the development, which is encircled by the traffic pattern for runway 12-30.
Airport commissioner Dan Loftus said building houses around the airport would lead to noise complaints, which could jeopardize the future of the airport.
“It is going to encroach on this jewel that we will probably lose,” he said.
Commissioner Ted Gregory said the City Council in Santa Monica, California, is considering shutting down its airport because of noise complaints after houses were built around it.
“And we’re setting up the same thing right here,” he said.
Jackie Marsh, city planner, said the city will be able to add conditions to usage such as prohibiting development in the runway inner safety zone and requiring future house sales to include a notice about proximity to the airport.
Gregory moved to recommend that the city keep the zoning light industrial. If the zoning is changed, he said, developers ought to provide a map of the airport’s noise abatement zone in addition to the written alert to home-seekers. A sign with the map should also be posted at the development site, he said.
Commissioner Steve Southworth concurred, saying that people don’t tend to read settlements. A graphic would draw their attention.
Equipment storage
The airport will design a new building to house its snow removal equipment.
It will be in the grass lot by the Hughes Ford Road entrance.
The design will cost around $138,000, according to airport manager Rick Johnson. Frederick would have to shoulder 25 percent of the costs while the state would manage the rest.
Staff plan to design this year, he said, and construct it next year.
The old storage needed to be removed as part of a planned runway extension.
Original article can be found here: http://www.fredericknewspost.com
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