Middletown council withdraws proposed airport-overlay zoning ordinance, sends it to planning board

The Town of Middletown Town Council voted to withdraw a proposed ordinance that would add an "Airport Area Overlay District" to the town zoning code and forwarded the proposal to the Planning Board for further review and recommendation.

Council members read the proposed additions to the zoning code aloud, listing sections including authorization and purpose, regulatory limitations, continuance of existing use, abandonment, variances and appeals. A motion was made and seconded to withdraw the ordinance and refer it to the Planning Board.

Council members said the state has mandated that communities with airports adopt an airport overlay zoning district, but several members expressed concern that the draft placed restrictions on runway protection zones that could limit development on privately owned properties near the airport. One council member summarized that, under Federal Aviation Administration guidance, the primary means to protect airport safety in runway protection zones is acquisition of property, easements or development rights by the airport, which then allows zoning to follow. The member said placing restrictions by zoning on privately owned land that the airport has not purchased—or for which no easement has been obtained—could expose the town to claims of taking property without compensation. "I was uncomfortable with placing those sorts of restrictions on private property essentially without paying for it," the council member said.

Council members said they had requested information from the airport corporation documenting what areas around the airport the corporation has purchased or encumbered via easement or development-rights agreements so the Planning Board can tailor any zoning map to the areas already under airport control. "We have requested from the airport corporation any information that they have to show what areas of the land around the airport they have either purchased or obtained easements or other rights over," a council member said.

After brief discussion, the council approved the motion to withdraw the ordinance and refer it to the Planning Board. The council did not adopt new regulatory limits or map changes at the meeting; it returned the draft for further study and requested documentation from the airport corporation before the Planning Board reconsiders the item.

The motion to withdraw and refer passed with the council voice vote recorded as "All in favor: Aye." No roll-call tally was recorded in the public transcript.