Officials at Frederick's airport would like Frederick County to consider a change that would help the airport manage construction in the area around it.
Frederick Municipal Airport is operated by the city of Frederick, which has a zoning overlay that restricts development within certain distances of the airport.
In the city, any cellphone tower, building or other structure within a mile of the airport must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, Airport Manager Rick Johnson said.
Under a city law passed in 2012, plans must also be submitted to the Maryland Aviation Administration.
Without a county overlay, Johnson may not know if the county has approved a building or structure that could obstruct the airport's operation.
The issue was raised during a presentation that Johnson gave to the Frederick County Planning Commission earlier this month.
Johnson said that since three of the airport's runways depart outside of city limits, that could pose an issue that could affect the county.
It would be helpful if the county could look at the possibility of an airport overlay, Johnson said.
The overlay would help the airport's management protect the airport from obstructions that violate the imaginary dimensions that federal regulations require for safety concerns, Johnson said.
Johnson emphasized that the city isn't telling the county what to do, just making a request for something that would be helpful.
If the county allowed a structure to be built that penetrated the dimensions, known as Part 77 obstructions for the section of federal law regulating them, the state and federal aviation agencies would come back to the city, whose responsibility it is to protect the area around the airport, Johnson said.
An issue did arise a few years ago when a cell tower was built in the Linganore area that penetrated the airport's Part 77 surface, but the FAA decided that the structure didn't create a hazard where it was built, Johnson said.
But if the agency had proclaimed the structure a hazard, he would have had no way to make the county comply.
The city's law requires applications for a final site plan or amendments to a final site plan to “clearly delineate” the location of the project to various elements of the airport and its protective zones.
The plans must be submitted to the FAA and MAA if they meet a variety of height or other restrictions.
Ron Burns, transportation engineering manager for the county's Division of Planning and Permitting, noted a mixed-use project in the city that was near one of the runways, which was denied by the mayor and Board of Aldermen.
A request for a judicial review of the denial is pending in Frederick County Circuit Court.
Burns also serves on the city's Planning Commission.
Burns said a situation arose a few years ago off of Reichs Ford Road in which the county owned land that had a potential issue with a cell phone tower, but the county's zoning ordinance didn't allow them to require a developer working on a project to respect the airport's needs.
"That may be a good example of how we might want to work together in the future in this regard," Burns told the Planning Commission at the July 10 meeting.
The commission could also help monitor development around the airport that is located in the county to help alleviate the problem.
"To some extent, I think the key is an improved level of communication between the airport and Planning Commission through the [county] staff, [which] might be a good goal for us all to adhere to," Burns said.
Johnson knows that the responsibility for ensuring safe takeoffs and landings at the airport ultimately lies with his staff and him.
“It's our job to protect the airspace around FKD,” he said, referring to the airport by its official code designation.
Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP.
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