Planning commission recommends special-use permit for private airstrip in Kilburg Canyon

The Graham County Planning and Zoning Commission on not specified recommended approval of a special-use permit that would allow Larry Wilson to construct a private airstrip on a portion of a 161-acre parcel at 42427 West Kilburg Creek Road in Kilburg Canyon.

The proposal matters because the runway would be adjacent to a neighboring cattle operation and the site lies under Victor Airway V-94, a commonly used aerial route; commissioners recommended the permit be sent with a positive recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for final action at its Sept. 2 meeting.

Wilson, the applicant, told commissioners he submitted a written rebuttal to an objection filed by his neighbor, Danny Carrasco. Wilson said the proposed runway is short because of terrain constraints: “That’s one reason why it’s only 1,200 feet long,” he said, and he explained that takeoffs would be to the west because rising terrain prevents eastward departures. He described the site as “one of the few places that you could practically land.”

Wilson acknowledged the safety concerns that neighbors raised and described aviation safety and regulatory practices: “What you hear about airstrips and aircraft is usually when they crash,” he said, and added that the Federal Aviation Administration’s review and the airport number assigned for the site do not constitute federal approval or an easement. “It’s not any sort of government approval or…easement or anything like that,” he said.

Wilson said his planned aircraft has a good climb rate and that, by his estimate, he would be “probably somewhere between 500 and a thousand feet high” by the time it crosses the neighboring stock tank area, and he said noise would be similar to existing overflights because the parcel lies under Victor Airway V-94.

Wilson also said he will eventually build a small steel hangar on a cleared pad for storage and house-building materials; he said the house on the property has a concrete pad and septic but that walls are not yet erected.

Commissioners noted the written objection and Wilson’s rebuttal, then moved and seconded a positive recommendation. After brief remarks from commissioners about rural airports and livestock noise, commissioners voted in favor; the chair announced, “Motion carries.” The commission’s positive recommendation will go to the Graham County Board of Supervisors for final consideration at its Sept. 2 meeting at 8 a.m.

Discussion versus action: commissioners’ vote at the planning commission level was a positive recommendation only; final approval requires Board of Supervisors action. The record shows substantive discussion about safety, noise, FAA process, and the proximity of Carrasco’s cattle operation; no additional conditions were recorded in the transcript.