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private airport question

S

skidoc

Member
Interested in building private runway. +40 acres in rural area with housing development near by. Room to put >3000 foot runway. On approach and my runway, how far away from other houses to be legal?
 
In Florida you have to have permission from all land owners that own property within 1000 feet of any part of the runway. Permission is granted if nobody objects to the runway when the FAA sends a letter notifying adjacent landowners of your intent. If one of the landowners objects, I assume there would have to be a discussion between the FAA, the landowner and you. Lucky for me nobody objected.
 
I think it's going to depend on the local / county / town / state in question.

Remember - with 3000 ft to play with, you can always displace the threshold to create necessary clearance - and still retain the safety margins.
 
Private Runway

In NC you have to apply for a special use permit from the county or town that has building permit jurisdiction over the property. They then send notices of the request to all the adjoining property owners and a public meeting is scheduled. The meeting is then held for the neighbors to come and voice their objections or approval. Mostly objectors will come. You will then have the opportunity to describe what you are planning and why they should approve it at the same meeting. The planning board will then vote on the request. If you can get by this process (which is the toughest) the state then has to approve it and then the feds. It can take some time and lots of paperwork, but it is worth it. I love my strip.

PS, If you can prove that it is a benefit to the community, it helps.
 
Don't be put off by rules of other states. Research you own state.
In Texas, it's extremely simple. I had to fill out one form. No meetings, no local approvals, no notices to neighbors, etc.
The only thing FAA is interested in is that your strip doesn't interfere with an instrument approach for another airport.
 
I looked into this in Chatham County on property I owned ...

If the area is not Zoned, it is quite easy.

The steps you should look into are:
1. County...see what the zoneing is and what is permitted. If you are within city / town limits, check with the zoning board. At the same time, check with building permits to see what is required and if watershed areas are involved.

2. NC DOT Aviation Branch located on the field of KRDU. They would like to know about your private airfield and can help you with any state forms. Not a big deal...just fyi to the state.

That is about it.
 
We just had a Canadian Supreme Court ruling that aerodromes are of Federal jurisdiction. No province,city or municipality can have restrictions. It's been a long battle and as a grass strip owner I'm glad of it's outcome.
 
Mel said:
Don't be put off by rules of other states. Research you own state.
In Texas, it's extremely simple. I had to fill out one form. No meetings, no local approvals, no notices to neighbors, etc.
The only thing FAA is interested in is that your strip doesn't interfere with an instrument approach for another airport.
Click to expand...

And that's if you do it the right way.

I know of three paved strips within 40 miles of my house (3000'x35', 4200'x30', and 4400'x50', all asphalt) that have zero paperwork associated with them, don't appear on any chart, and nobody cares. One of them has existed for 30 years. Ya gotta love farmers with toys! :cool:
 
airguy said:
... I know of three paved strips within 40 miles of my house (3000'x35', 4200'x30', and 4400'x50', all asphalt) that have zero paperwork associated with them, don't appear on any chart, and nobody cares. One of them has existed for 30 years. Ya gotta love farmers with toys! :cool:
Click to expand...

You're also in Midland Texas. I doubt anyone would care if you built a nuclear reactor out there in the vast flatlands where the wind never stops blowing.
 
I know of three paved strips within 40 miles of my house (3000'x35', 4200'x30', and 4400'x50', all asphalt) that have zero paperwork associated with them, don't appear on any chart, and nobody cares. One of them has existed for 30 years. Ya gotta love farmers with toys!
Click to expand...
I bet that's true in many (most?) places -- zoning/approvals are not enforced unless someone complains. But the headaches and costs of dealing with all that after someone complains is probably much worse than if you'd gotten the approvals to begin with. You could also have problems selling the property later, if you are selling it to another pilot who is attracted by your airstrip but then realizes it's not "official."

Check with your local land use department for starters, and go from there. I live on only one acre in rural Portland, Oregon, and there's no room for even a helipad (due to wires/trees/fence/structures), but I was surprised to see that "airport" was one of the allowed uses by the county land use department for my parcel's zoning class!
 
Like many states, California is a right to farm state. Any farmer in California can have a strip on his land for the purpose of treating his crops by air with aircraft. I have a strip within 1 mile of a town of about 40.000. I farm only 15 acres, I also maintain a journeyman's California ag pilots certificate. Some of the farm strips in California are very old. Thats how I do it.
 
Grass Strip, Ready-to-go, FL

A neighbor of mine has a grass strip ready for houses, between Gainesville and Palatka, FL. From what he has relayed, it wasn't as hard as one would expect. His only hurdle was the drainage, so he installed all the necessary piping to ensure that even after the heaviest of Florida rains, you can land there. Not sure what he intends to do with it, since we live on a grass-field airstrip.
 
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