Spalding-area leaders set subcommittees, outline funding and land‑use limits for new regional airport

Leaders of the Griffin‑Spalding Outside‑the‑Fence Stakeholders Committee on Thursday described recent funding commitments for a new regional airport, reminded the public that the Federal Aviation Administration will control activity inside the airport boundary and formed two subcommittees to revise an existing airport overlay district and to study noise, safety and environmental effects on adjacent properties.

The meeting focused on aligning zoning and the county comprehensive‑plan update with the airport project so the county can feed land‑use recommendations into a broader update scheduled to begin in about 18 months.

“Last year the state government allocated $47,500,000 for construction of the new airport,” said Dr. Randy Peters, chairman of the Griffin‑Spalding Airport Authority and chairman of the Griffin Area Regional Airport Authority. He added that the FAA had committed about $10 million a year for four years and that a separate federal appropriation of roughly $8.5 million was included in a transportation bill.

Those funding lines come with restrictions, Peters said: state funds cannot be used to purchase property that will ultimately be owned…