When is a private airstrip needed?

denverpilot said:
That. We were putting up a fence a few years ago and I was trying really hard to make sure the horrible drawings I had and a very difficult marker placement were going to put the fence inside the easement for the utility company. Then I talked to one of their engineers who gave the real reason for the easement...

"Just make sure there's enough room to maneuver and drive a bucket truck or a pole truck all the way to the pole. If you had towers and high tension lines I'd say leave enough room to lay down a tower. That's all we care about. We report easement violations when a crew can't work. Otherwise we don't care."

And here I'm out there with a GPS and a micrometer... LOL.

They just want access. Start involving a bureaucrat who isn't even clued up on what the stupid easement is for, they'll make it as complex as possible.
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You may want to check this out as these are usually 'Right of Way" easements... I think you are only obliged to something like 3 feet...
 
Ventucky Red said:
You may want to check this out as these are usually 'Right of Way" easements... I think you are only obliged to something like 3 feet...
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Ours was an easement off of a neighborhood horse trail. So the actual open strip is plenty wide for trucks. The problem was the easement is defined from the middle of the trail and the trail is not clearly marked and good luck getting the 75 year old engineer who volunteers his time to come drive stakes.

In the end there's 16' of space from fence to neighbor's fence. If a truck can't get in there and put down outriggers, give me the keys and I'll get it in there! LOL.
 
The power lines and poles are 30 ft high. They cross the rectangular lot into half at an angle. Access to the power lines would not be an issue. There is an easement for the utility company. To run the airstrip lengthwise down the center of the lot would have the power lines crossing it halfway. Attorney said due to the town's denial I would have to go to the supreme court. It would be expensive and no guarantee I would win. Current plan is to build the hangar, pay off the loan, then have the separate lots combined so no variance is required for the airstrip. I run the risk of having a hangar and one day not being allowed to have an airstrip, but at least I'll have a hangar to one day store a boat, rv, project airplane, lawn equipment, etc...
 
cgrab said:
A little neighborly good will like aerial photos of their houses could go a long way.
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Especially if the missus is sunbathing in the backyard....if ya catch my drift...
 
I took a photo of the local country store and then took it to the owner as what I thought would be a nice gesture. He did appreciate it, but he assumed I shot it with a drone. LOL.

It took me two three minutes to convince him I shot it from an actual airplane. That I was flying. Myself. LOL

Times change. That one will make you feel old. Haha.
 
rookie1255 said:
Would this/could this be regulated at the town, county, or state level, and where would I find such laws?
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Yes, this could be regulated at the town level, by the planning board. You would find the ordinances at your town hall and probably on the internet. It will depend on your city and state as to authority. For example, in NC, no city has any real authority except what is given to it by the state government. However, they have been given the authority to regulate land use.

I just looked it up for my city and it comes down to two items - zoning district and a 1000' setback from residential use. Here, the land must be zoned RA or RLD (Residential Agriculture or Residential Low Density). If it meets that, there's nothing neighbors can say about it because it IS how you build an airport. If this were your city, you would be fine to build it and neighbors could complain and whine, but ultimately the city does not have the authority to stop it because you'd be meeting their use requirements. Any attempt to change the zoning to prevent your use would be pretty transparent and stopped by the state courts.

I would investigate the reason someone said no, whether or not they were authorized to do so, and were they in compliance with your city laws when they said no. A lawyer would be a good resource if you cannot find the information on your own.
 
bluerooster said:
Should have never asked. Should have just done it. Forgiveness is easier to get than permission.
How high are these power lines? and would they cross mid-field if you were to make the runway go lengthways to your property?
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You mean build a runway to go under them? Seems like a Really Bad Idea for so many reason...
 
Dana said:
Sorry, you're right, it's not accurate at all... I meant to say NY is NOT one of them.
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If NY does not prohibit aircraft operations from a piece of land that is not an airport then I should be good. My neighbor will throw a fit and complain. The planning board won't be happy with me flying and landing after my approval for a variance for the airstrip was denied. However, I doubt they have any town specific laws requiring aircraft operations to be conducted from airports. As to whether it could be a noise complaint, who knows. I guess we'll see.
 
rookie1255 said:
However, I doubt they have any town specific laws requiring aircraft operations to be conducted from airports.
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The easiest thing is to simply ask the town zoning board what the regulations are.
 
I spoke with the airpark owner one day about his airpark I live at. He told me when they went to build this airstrip he wanted an N-S strip. The company who was doing this work explained to him if one of those home owners complain your strip will be scrapped. They explained he would be better off to put his runway e-w. No homes on each end. This is what they did. I always wondered why there was what looked like a strip running N-S right in front of my hangar. He said that was going to be the runway then they scrapped that idea. We also have 100+ acres here.

To have this 4000' runway built cost him not one penny. Very cool story behind the building of this airpark.
 
so who paid for it? Asphalt doesn't just magically appear on the ground by wishing it there.
 
Fiat Allis had a proving ground across the street from this place. They approached the land owner and asked if they installed a runway could they use it. He said sure not a problem. He was already gearing up to install this runway when Fiat Allis approached him. They built the strip and used it four times. Fiat Allis moved from this area and the rest is history. The land owner wanted a N-S runway. Fiat Allis was the group who told him that was not a good idea. They then installed a E-W runway at a cost of nothing to the land owner. Its one of the nicest sod strips you will find. It has a clay top and never gets muddy. We had 4 inches of ran and the next day I was flying. It's 100' wide and 4000' long.



Tony
 
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This is going to get me yelled at, for sure.
I used to land in the field across the street from my daughter's house. It was 3/4 of a mile wide and about 4 miles long, and straight and level. The owner of the land used to get a kick out of it, and I'd take him for a ride every once in awhile.
One day the town Supervisor turned up on my daughter's doorstep (the town doesn't have a police force) and told me to cease and desist.
So I started landing on the road in front of her house. It's 2 lanes wide, plus shoulders on both sides and about 4 miles long, straight and level. It's a state road, not a town road. Since Hurricane Sandy, the bridge on the south end washed out and it hasn't been replaced yet. So except for the 3 farms there is no traffic on the road.
The town Supervisor turned up on the doorstep and and told me to cease and desist. My other daughter, who is a CSI with the State Police, explained to him that the town had no jurisdiction, but perhaps we could reach an arrangement that would allow me to land in the field across the street.
Now I land in the field across the street from my daughter's house.
Co-operation. It's a beautiful thing.
 
Shepherd said:
This is going to get me yelled at, for sure.
I used to land in the field across the street from my daughter's house. It was 3/4 of a mile wide and about 4 miles long, and straight and level. The owner of the land used to get a kick out of it, and I'd take him for a ride every once in awhile.
One day the town Supervisor turned up on my daughter's doorstep (the town doesn't have a police force) and told me to cease and desist.
So I started landing on the road in front of her house. It's 2 lanes wide, plus shoulders on both sides and about 4 miles long, straight and level. It's a state road, not a town road. Since Hurricane Sandy, the bridge on the south end washed out and it hasn't been replaced yet. So except for the 3 farms there is no traffic on the road.
The town Supervisor turned up on the doorstep and and told me to cease and desist. My other daughter, who is a CSI with the State Police, explained to him that the town had no jurisdiction, but perhaps we could reach an arrangement that would allow me to land in the field across the street.
Now I land in the field across the street from my daughter's house.
Co-operation. It's a beautiful thing.
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You were lucky to have a daughter who does this work. I bet if you had not had this the outcome would have been different. Try being a layman and telling someone who believes they know more then you that this road was not in his jurisdiction. he would have argued the point.

We had a man not far from me who flew a Piper Cub. He was a farmer and kept his airplane in the barn. He would taxi out to the road and take off and land on said road. No one ever said a word. I was told he died years or decades ago and his airplane is still in that barn today.
Tony
 
Dana said:
Sorry, you're right, it's not accurate at all... I meant to say NY is NOT one of them.
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As far as I know, the only place that is strictly off limits (except in an emergency) is the NYS Thruway. The other exception is you can even land there with prior written permission from the Dept of Transportation.
 
Omalley1537 said:
The fact that anyone but you gets to decide what you can and can't do on YOUR 100 acres is one of the things that has gone wrong in our country...
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Fine and dandy until your neighbor decides to raise pigs on the property next to your's.
 
1600vw said:
You were lucky to have a daughter who does this work. I bet if you had not had this the outcome would have been different. Try being a layman and telling someone who believes they know more then you that this road was not in his jurisdiction. he would have argued the point.

Tony
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It's both easier and more complicated, and has more to do with the Town Supervisor, who happens to be the brother-in-law of daughter #1 (d#1, for brevity).
Supie was reacting to some hipsters from NYC that bought the property 3 miles north of d#1. They complained about everything, including the fact that they could smell "farm", and they wanted it to stop also.
Daughter #2 (d#2, they are twins, btw), just provided a bogus "official" interpretation, which he ran with. He also likes ride in the plane.
The problem has totally resolved itself since the bridge washed out. The hipsters now had to drive an extra 1.5 hours to get to the Thruway, and the 3 farms south of them had to ship all the manure NORTH past the Hipster House to get it to the fertilizer factory. Totally unacceptable.
They gave up and sold out about 3 years ago.
 
Witmo said:
Fine and dandy until your neighbor decides to raise pigs on the property next to your's.
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If you can't show a material impact to quality of life by the actions of your neighbor, then you shouldn't be able to dictate what they do with their own property. An abundance of smell/constant noise from a pig farm is one thing, an aircraft taking off and landing a few times a week (even per day) does nothing that affects another person or the value of that person's land. People just can't stand to live and let live.
 
SoonerAviator said:
If you can't show a material impact to quality of life by the actions of your neighbor, then you shouldn't be able to dictate what they do with their own property. An abundance of smell/constant noise from a pig farm is one thing, an aircraft taking off and landing a few times a week (even per day) does nothing that affects another person or the value of that person's land. People just can't stand to live and let live.
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Its all a matter of perspective...
 
Witmo said:
Fine and dandy until your neighbor decides to raise pigs on the property next to your's.
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Worked on a pig farm long ago. We didn't bother the neighbors.

Could've bought the land and then there wouldn't be a pig farm next door. It's not exactly uncommon to have farms move in next door in rural areas when you're up against large chunks of land.

Not sure why this would be a surprise.
 
Witmo said:
Fine and dandy until your neighbor decides to raise pigs on the property next to your's.
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So what if he does? If he has his pig farm but leaves me alone about me doing what I want on my land, we're both happy. Don't want someone doing X activity on the neighboring property? Then buy the neighboring property. That simple.
 
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