Planning commission forwards rezoning for Hartman Run Road site despite airport noise concerns

The Morgantown Planning Commission voted to forward a rezoning application for Map 2571 (AJR LLC, Hartman Run Road) to city council with a finding that the request is consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan, but commissioners and staff noted outstanding concerns about airport noise and long-term compatibility.

The application would change the zoning of approximately 13 acres at the intersection of Everlasting Lane and Hartman Run Road from industrial to a commercial/mixed-use district (B-2 was the final district forwarded). The staff presentation described the parcel as three contiguous parcels and emphasized its proximity to Morgantown’s airport, the steep change in topography on the site and the overlay district the city adopted after a 2012 master plan update.

Staff told commissioners the 2012 study that informed the airport overlay ordinance had concluded that noise contours would largely remain on airport property. “The 2012 study said that that basically wasn't an issue because the noise compatibility of 65 decibels was not going to be an issue off of the airport property,” staff said during the presentation. Staff also noted the airport director’s comment that aircraft now operating near Morgantown are larger and louder than those considered in 2012, and staff recommended conditions that would be addressed at later stages of review.

Applicant representatives said the site is underutilized and argued rezoning would support redevelopment and taxable investment. Scott Copen, the project's engineer, told the commission that the proposed development would sit down the slope from the runway and that proposed building heights would be below the airport elevation surfaces: “Our highest elevation is gonna be about a 110 feet lower than the runway elevation. So we're well below the runway. We are well below all the surfaces that are shown on this overlay district,” Copen said.

Commissioners and the applicant discussed several practical items that would be handled at future phases: sound studies at site plan review, potential sound-mitigation measures, an aviation agreement to allow airport access for safety and maintenance, and recorded buyer/renter disclosures acknowledging proximity to the airport. Staff said FAA consultation is not required at the rezoning stage under city ordinance; consultation is triggered at the point of development/erection of a use that would intersect FAA surfaces.

Concerns raised during the hearing included that the 2012 airport master plan and overlay maps may be outdated for current and potential future aircraft, and that localized noise sources—specifically engine run-ups at a nearby hangar—could create louder, proximate events than runway-distance noise contours suggest. Commissioners repeatedly emphasized that those technical questions and mitigation details belong in subsequent reviews: the development significant impact (DSI) process and site-plan review.

Long County Development Authority (property owner) representative Russ Rogerson spoke in support of the rezoning, noting the authority's interest in making the site marketable for development. No members of the public spoke in opposition during the hearing.

After deliberation, a majority of commissioners voted to forward the application to city council with the finding it is consistent with the comprehensive plan. The commission declined to add the staff-proposed conditions (buyer/renter disclosure, aviation agreement, and a required sound study at site plan review) as conditions of the rezoning and instead left those items to the site-plan/DSI review process and coordination with staff and the airport.

Commissioners and staff said the project will return for regulatory review if rezoned; those future reviews will be the venue for required sound analyses and any mitigation. The application will proceed to city council for final action.

The commission’s record includes the staff analysis, the airport-overlay maps tied to the 2012 master plan update, and the applicant’s presentation materials; commissioners noted the need for updated, site-specific sound analysis before permitting construction.

Outlook: The rezoning recommendation is now before city council. If council approves the map amendment, the applicant would still need to complete the DSI/site-plan review and, as applicable, procure FAA coordination or other technical studies at the development stage.