Published: Friday, March 19, 2010
County considers rules to protect 'airparks' from complaints
Ideas sought on how to preserve the county's only residential airpark
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Jason Fritz / Herald file photo
Snohomish County Council considers a new rules to give fair warning to anybody living within a quarter-mile or so of an airpark community. Frontier Air Park is the only such community currently in the county where many residents have hangars and a community air strip they can use.
ARLINGTON — Snohomish County is looking at ways to preserve its lone residential airpark, a community where many people have personal airplane hangars and access to a private airstrip.
The County Council next week plans to consider new rules to address fears that nearby development could one day bring complaints about airplane noise. Specifically, the new rules would require a special notification for any building or development permit obtained within a 1,300-foot perimeter of an airpark — a little less than a quarter-mile. Councilmen also could extend that buffer to 2,500 feet.
Right now, those rules would only apply to Frontier Air Park, a community of 120-large lot homes between Marysville and Granite Falls. About a third of the residents have planes and another third have rights that would allow them to keep and fly airplanes from home.
“We just want to make sure that people know we're there rather than to let people purchase a house (nearby) and then be surprised,” said Joe Frew, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and owner of a plane who has lived in Frontier since 2004 and now serves as its owners-association president. “There may be airplane music there.”
The council's public hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. The Snohomish County Planning Commission in December recommended by a 7-1 vote that the county approve the idea.
If the ordinance passes, a notice about possible inconveniences from “aviation activities” would be recorded with the county Auditor's Office for any building permit or property subdivision within the perimeter.
County Councilman John Koster, whose district includes the airpark, said the proposal would benefit the people inside and outside the community.
“It's sort of a protection for people who live around the airpark as well,” Koster said. “As development occurs in the flight path, it's advantageous for people to know they're in the flight path.”
The County Council also is holding hearings on other issues Wednesday: reimbursement rates to elected officials for vehicle expenses; allowing the county to use millions of dollars in federally subsidized economic-recovery bonds; and landscaping requirements between urban and rural zones in the Maltby urban growth area.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
The County Council next week plans to consider new rules to address fears that nearby development could one day bring complaints about airplane noise. Specifically, the new rules would require a special notification for any building or development permit obtained within a 1,300-foot perimeter of an airpark — a little less than a quarter-mile. Councilmen also could extend that buffer to 2,500 feet.
Right now, those rules would only apply to Frontier Air Park, a community of 120-large lot homes between Marysville and Granite Falls. About a third of the residents have planes and another third have rights that would allow them to keep and fly airplanes from home.
“We just want to make sure that people know we're there rather than to let people purchase a house (nearby) and then be surprised,” said Joe Frew, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and owner of a plane who has lived in Frontier since 2004 and now serves as its owners-association president. “There may be airplane music there.”
The council's public hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. The Snohomish County Planning Commission in December recommended by a 7-1 vote that the county approve the idea.
If the ordinance passes, a notice about possible inconveniences from “aviation activities” would be recorded with the county Auditor's Office for any building permit or property subdivision within the perimeter.
County Councilman John Koster, whose district includes the airpark, said the proposal would benefit the people inside and outside the community.
“It's sort of a protection for people who live around the airpark as well,” Koster said. “As development occurs in the flight path, it's advantageous for people to know they're in the flight path.”
The County Council also is holding hearings on other issues Wednesday: reimbursement rates to elected officials for vehicle expenses; allowing the county to use millions of dollars in federally subsidized economic-recovery bonds; and landscaping requirements between urban and rural zones in the Maltby urban growth area.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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• Arlington • County CouncilPublic hearing
The Snohomish County Council has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday on proposed rules to notify people near airpark communities where residents have airplanes. The meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on the eighth floor of the county administration building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett.
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