Linn County supervisors hear Marion’s proposed airport ordinance changes as farmers warn of property impacts

Marion officials told the Linn County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 22 that the city is updating its airport zoning to rely on FAA height standards and to remove a land‑use table that had previously restricted uses near the Marion Airport. The presentation and follow‑up questions focused on whether the county should update, keep, or remove its 2020 airport overlay zoning for rural areas now that the airport is privately owned.

Charlie Nichols, Linn County planning and development staff, said the county adopted the overlay in 2020 after the airport was publicly owned and federal grant conditions and Iowa code created an expectation that the overlay would protect federal investment in the runway. Nichols said options for the county include leaving the ordinance as written, aligning county code with Marion’s changes, pursuing more significant revisions, or removing the overlay entirely. He noted the county’s existing 28E agreement with Marion directs county applications in the overlay to the city for review.

Chris Jansen, a consultant with MSA Professional Services, told the board Marion is proposing to: rely on FAA procedures for assessing obstructions (including use of FAA Form 7460‑1), remove the overlay’s separate land‑use table in favor of the city’s future land‑use map and zoning, realign the ordinance to the airport’s actual runway (removing references to a now‑abandoned alternate runway), dissolve the separate Marion Airport Committee and airport board of adjustment, and rezone the runway property now that it has been sold to a private owner. Jansen said the FAA makes determinations on proposed obstructions—no hazard, mitigable (for example requiring lighting), or denied—and applicants who "penetrate the imaginary surface" typically submit FAA Form 7460‑1 for review.

Nicole Barrons, planner for the City of Marion, said Marion’s intent is to retain FAA‑based height protections that protect people and airspace while eliminating land‑use provisions that conflicted with the city’s land‑use map. She said Marion would likely ask the county to "take a look" at the city’s simplification and that Marion’s hazard area still overlaps some city and county parcels.

Rural residents and farmers told the board the overlay—centered on a roughly 26.13‑acre airport parcel—has an outsized effect on surrounding land. Spencer Jordan, a fifth‑generation farmer, and others said the overlay’s height limits, together with topographic differences (the runway sits in a lower elevation relative to surrounding farms), can effectively lower the permissible height for farm structures and reduce property values. Speakers urged the county not to extend or tailor the overlay to benefit a privately owned airport unless landowners are compensated.

County staff recommended the board gather additional information before directing major changes. Staff noted that FAA determinations can be appealed and that a local board‑of‑adjustment process remains available for variance requests; planning staff suggested removing references to a joint airport board of adjustment and referring appeals to the Linn County Board of Adjustment if the county revises its ordinance.

No board decision was made Sept. 22; supervisors asked county planning staff to gather examples from other Iowa counties and to return with options for the planning and zoning commission to consider before any formal changes or readings of the county ordinance.

The board’s next procedural step, as staff outlined, is for planning and zoning review and then three readings before the board if the county pursues an ordinance change.