Recently released airport restrictions could hinder future development

Members of the Rogers City Council were left looking confused Monday after city manager Mark Slown shared the contents of a letter and map he had received from the Michigan Aeronautical Commission (MAC) and MDOT stating new guidelines that could affect current and prohibit future development near the airport property.

?THIS IS new information that we have just received, and I am still trying to digest it,? said Slown. ?The letter states that these are ?guidelines? we have to follow, so I?m not sure yet whether these are absolutes or not.? The letter, dated March 13, did not reach Slown?s desk until this past week. He said the letter makes references to MAC meetings in 2001, and a meeting in November where the ?new guidelines? were accepted. Slown said he was not sure why it has taken this long for Rogers City to be informed of new guidelines that would directly affect future developments in the general vicinity of the airport. According to Slown, one of the guidelines causing the most concern states no residential-type development can occur within 1,000 feet of the runway?s centerline. If there is development within this area, it cannot inhabit more than five people per acre.

?This could have some very negative consequences,? said Slown, who has since spent the better part of his time investigating what the guidelines mean. ?All of Presque Isle County?s Renaissance Zone lots in the Industrial Park would be affected by this. A section at the end of the runway toward the quarry could also be affected, which could impact the Wolverine project. I have put a call into Ken Bradstreet (of Wolverine) requesting a meeting about this.?

PRESQUE ISLE County Economic Development Corporation executive director Bill Valentine said he believed the guidelines set would not hinder light industrial businesses, but any residential-type would not likely be feasible. ?The FAA rules prevent residential and/or RV Park facilities from within 1,000-feet of the runway?s centerline,? said Valentine. ?That would rule out the county?s Renaissance Zone as a possible location for the proposed RV Park, but the original request for the city?s Renaissance Zone lots could still be utilized.? Slown said that at this point in time, it?s too early to say what impact the new guidelines could ultimately have, if any. ?This has the potential to limit development in and around the airport property,? said Slown. ?The guidelines set by MAC and MDOT are there to prohibit the gathering of people in order to ensure safety around the airport in case of an accident ? so the purpose is to create safety; however, this cert

ainly needs to be looked into.?

Slown said there are several pre-existing businesses, including an excavating company, a cement plant, and the transfer station, that fall within the 1,000-foot red line area, which could create even more potential problems. ?I have talked with the original airport engineers who laid the airport plan out,? said Slown. ?They said the airport was laid out with all the proper considerations in mind so that there would not be any problems ? apparently, the rules have changed.? Slown said he has not been able to follow the ?paper trail? back to the letter?s original sender as of yet.

?At this point, I have a lot more questions than answers,? said Slown.

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