Planning Commission approves Cabana Air hangar, allows landscaping modifications and an airport forestation fee-in-lieu

The Frederick City Planning Commission approved final site plan PC24554 for a 32,887-square-foot Cabana Air hangar at Frederick Municipal Airport Monday and granted three modifications to standard city landscaping rules, citing Federal Aviation Administration guidance that discourages tree plantings near active airfields.

Staff recommended the modifications and the site plan. The requested landscaping adjustments were: eliminate the requirement to plant one tree per 6,000 square feet of lot area; waive the requirement for one street tree per 50 feet of road frontage along Buckheimer Road; and allow parking-lot interior planting areas to omit shade trees while maintaining the required planting area through smaller shrubs and grasses. Staff s report cited FAA safety and the airport s wildlife management plan as primary reasons to avoid creating habitat attractive to birds near runways.

The commission approved the three modification requests and the final site plan. The vote on the first modification (property trees) was unanimous; the second modification (street trees) passed with one dissenting vote from Commissioner Manelas; the third modification (shade trees in parking islands) passed unanimously. The final site plan was approved with conditions that include adding the lighting plan to the final plan set and updating stormwater documentation and approval dates.

Staff also presented a combined forest stand delineation and preliminary forest conservation plan for the same disturbed area. Because the airport property has environmental constraints and federal safety guidance discourages tree planting near runways, staff recommended satisfying the site s forest conservation requirement with a fee-in-lieu rather than on-site planting. The fee-in-lieu was calculated at $14,897 to mitigate approximately 1.14 acres of forest conservation obligation. The commission approved the forest conservation plan and fee-in-lieu payment unanimously.

Airport manager Andrew Moore told commissioners that the airport maintains a wildlife management plan approved by the FAA and that both obstructions and wildlife habitat near the airfield are safety concerns. Applicant Cabana Air and its consultant AdTech Engineers presented building elevations and a landscape plan showing shrubs, berming and ornamental grasses intended to meet the code s aesthetic and screening goals without creating taller tree canopy.

Motion language approving the final site plan and the modifications was adopted by the commission and included seven staff conditions to be satisfied prior to final plan sign-off. The approvals allow the airport to proceed with hangar construction subject to FAA and state-level approvals (FAA form 7460 and MAA forms) required for buildings on airport property.