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Hibbing council adopts airport land‑use safety zoning to protect grant eligibility
Summary
Council adopted an updated airport land‑use safety zoning ordinance intended to align the Chisholm‑Hibbing Airport with revised Minnesota statute and preserve eligibility for state aeronautics grants; airport director explained A/B/C safety zones and next approval steps.
The Hibbing City Council on Dec. 17 approved an ordinance updating airport land‑use safety zoning for the Chisholm‑Hibbing Airport to comply with revised state statute and to preserve the airport's eligibility for state grant programs.
Mr. Borland, city attorney, introduced the proposed ordinance (11.39) and said the airport assembled a committee to rewrite the ordinance so the city's land‑use code would meet current statute and improve the airport's ability to qualify for grants. Barrett Zimmer, executive director of the Chisholm‑Hibbing Airport Authority, summarized the committee process, the public hearing required by state law and the outreach to neighboring townships.
Zimmer said the ordinance follows the state's land‑use zoning statute and explained the safety zones near the runways: "airports are required to have airport land use zoning, by the the state of Minnesota," he said, describing A and B zones off runway ends and a more limited C zone regulated by federal height restrictions.
Zimmer said the committee reduced the length of some safety zones under the revised statute, which "makes it less restrictive to private property owners" in parts of the airport area. If approved by the council, the zoning change will be ratified by the county and then submitted to the state Department of Transportation commissioner for final approval before taking effect.
Councilors asked whether residents raised concerns; Zimmer said the public hearing drew about 18–20 people, who generally sought clarification about tree and building height restrictions and whether planned development would be affected. Council approved the ordinance after the presentation.
