Residential Property Rezoned For Airport Expansion

Fairhope, Alabama

Industrial rezoning requested on east side


BIG EAST SIDE EXPANSION PLANS

At its July meeting, the city's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved re-zoning over 100 acres of property already owned by the city's Airport Authority from residential (R-1) to light industrial use (M-1): located generally on the east side of the runway and on each side of CR 32.

(see meeting agenda items B and C below)

Airport-owned property along Bishop Road is included as well; some of the property involved not already in city limits will be concurrently annexed.

Airport plans
The Authority has applied for more Federal Aviation Administration 'AIP' grants (Airport Improvement Program) to eventually build infrastructure to duplicate what already exists on the airport's west side (new access road, hangars, passenger terminal, fueling stations, taxiways, etc.) on the airport's east side.

An occupant-ready office building there has been discussed in the past as well; and the possibility of selling some of the property.

The AA hopes to be awarded grants of up to $9 million dollars for the expansion; some strings always come with such federal grants though, such as allowing the use of the airport for needs of national defense.

(Military training planes from Florida have been a major issue there for many years; more meetings were held recently with Congressman Byrne about mitigating the noise according to Councilman Burrell.)

Airport Chairman Mcenerney said the rezoning is needed to "clean up loose ends" in anticipation of "significant expansion on the east side" and to "attract industry" there.


CITY COUNCIL MUST STILL APPROVE IT

Planning Director Jonathan Smith told the Times the city council will still have to vote to approve the rezoning, although some AA members thought their committee already had the rezoning authority itself.

(There seemed to be some confusion/conflict between state and city laws on this point; the city council still has not taken up the matter.)



west side hangar construction  
NEW WEST SIDE HANGARS UNDERWAY

A new private hangar is already under construction on the west side, at the very end of the access road on property leased from the AA; another has been approved for nearby, but construction not yet started.

A fuel farm is to accompany each new hangar.






8 parcels in yellow affected


July Planning commission agenda



Comments

Anonymous said…
I do not know anyone who thinks we need a big noisy airport.
Anonymous said…
This is unbelievable!This town is being destroyed by the Mayor and city council.We need to stop dangerous air plane traffic in residential neighborhoods.Please vote out these officials responsible for all the noise.
Anonymous said…
it's harmless. good for the economy.
Anonymous said…
I spent most of my working career in aviation. The Fairhope airport is underutilized at the moment, but it has the potential to upgrade into what is already a booming aerospace industry. Expansion, etc would bring POSITIVE growth, jobs, and other opportunities to our area WITHOUT causing a plague of noise and other issues. Lets not forget that Pensacola is the birthplace of Naval aviation and Brookley Field was a very active AFB before it was shut down by the Fed. Aviation is a big part of our local history and it's time we reestablished our connection with it rather than watching it fly over our heads and into other areas.
Anonymous said…
Real Fairhopers know bigger and bigger is not better. Tell Burell and company enough is enough!
Rusty said…
I'm not sure what a "Real Fairhoper" is, because this area is so diverse. I'm a 4th generation resident so I think I'm qualified to speak on the subject. The aviation worker above nailed it. We have the potential to have something great in our community that will create jobs, and bring additional revenue to the city. Face it folks, we're smack dab in the middle of aviation. You're going to have planes around your heads whether we have this expansion or not. It's time we embrace it and make it work for us, and making Fairhope famous for something else besides flowers and McMansions.
Anonymous said…
Oops, forgot to sign my name on the 3rd comment. Folks, as long as housing continues to be constructed, FH is going to grow. We need to get used to the idea and help our leadership make good decisions concerning that growth. Banter about who loves/hates Fairhope more or less will get us nowhere. Generally, growth is a sign of success. The airport is in an awkward phase and needs to grow in to order to avoid stagnation. J.P.
Anonymous said…
You never ever want to buy real estate near an airport. How is this good for the economy? A lot of existing homes and Fairhope is very small. There is no way to keep noise down and will effect home sales in Fairhope
Anonymous said…
There is no way that I would invest in Fairhope. I lived there when the airport was just puddle jumpers as I call them. When we had out of town company they made the comment, do you guys live near a military base? The neighborhood was Fairfield
Anonymous said…
I would say to all of the people that call themselves "real Fairhopers" need to flip the bill for everything. With that said , anyone who is paying taxes are real Fairhopers
Anonymous said…
the nine million would have been spent better fixing our clogged up roads than on this thing.
Anonymous said…
The only ones who want a big airport are Burell's campaign donators and airport authority members who park their planes there.
Anonymous said…
Check out the candidates REAL intentions by looking at their campaign financial reports they have to file. Some of them are being funded by outside developers and are paying THOUSANDS of dollars to a firm called Catalyst Systems. Catalyst Systems is a political consulting firm founded by real estate developers and owned by real estate developers to short circuit elections. Catalyst Systems even BRAGS about their track record!
Now ask any candidate if they use Catalyst Systems and check where they get their money from. You will KNOW what their TRUE agenda is and if they can tell the truth!
Be brave if you dare to look - you will be either surprised or SICKENED.