Regional Affairs

N.C. town tries to protect airport but not there yet

Beaufort, North Carolina, city officials are creating an airport overlay district of the city's zoning ordinance to prevent incompatible land use around Michael J. Smith Field. The overlay proposal would prohibit multi- and single-family residential units with a density "greater than one dwelling unit per acre" from being built within the runway protection zone (RPZ). AOPA is pleased that the city is taking steps to protect the airport but is concerned that officials are not prohibiting all residential development within the RPZ, which the FAA requires. The association warned the city that if it allowed single-family residential units with a density "less than one dwelling unit per acre" to be built that the FAA could withhold federal Airport Improvement Program funding. The city is developing an airport overlay district because a developer had previously proposed to build condominiums in the RPZ off the end of the airport's Runway 3.

November 24, 2006