State OKs Permit for Airport in Will County (IL)

The Illinois Department of Transportation said last week that it has issued an operating permit for a general aviation airport within the boundaries of a proposed regional airport in Will County.

But the news of the permit caught the airport's owner by surprise.

"What they're telling you is a lot more than they're telling me," said Jim Bult, who has been pressing the state agency for a permit for his Bult Field since December.

The state issued the permit following a May 2 inspection of the former Sanger Airport, near Kedzie Avenue and Offner Road near Monee.

The airstrip complies with state airport safety and emergency-preparedness requirements, said department spokesman Mike Claffey.

"He's in good shape," Claffey said. The department's aeronautics division "inspected the field, and it's fine. It's a well-constructed airfield."

But Bult was baffled.

"There isn't a single thing that's been conveyed to me," he said.

Bult bought the grass-runway Sanger Field in 2004. It is about 3 miles from a compound operated by Transportation Department consultants hired to obtain and manage land for the Peotone airport project.

Bult's massive reconstruction project has included building a 5,000-foot-long concrete runway and equipping the airport to operate at night.

He is scaling back plans for a combination terminal-living area at the airport because it would take more than a month to seek approval from the Will County Board. He now plans only "a five- or six-bedroom facility," said Matt Ryan, chief of staff to Will County Executive Larry Walsh.

The property is zoned for residential use.

"We're just waiting for his architect to get back to us with a revised plan," Ryan said. "Then he can go ahead."

Bult met this month with Ryan and county land-use department staff to discuss building options on the property. At the meeting, county officials said Bult couldn't build the terminal unless he rezoned the property or obtained a special use permit.

Either approach would require county board approval.

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