Growing Carolina GA Airport Maps Out Future Restrictions

Northeast Wake County residents are getting a taste of development conflicts familiar to those who live and work near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

Franklin County wants to expand its small airport nine miles northeast of Rolesville to accommodate bigger planes and promote local business growth.

But before approving a 1,000-foot runway extension, the Federal Aviation Administration wants governments in the flight path to prohibit tall communication towers, skyscrapers, bright or colored lights shining upward, and other flight hazards. So Franklin County has asked Wake County and Rolesville to regulate those things.

No problem, Wake's Planning Board said last week. It voted to recommend the restrictions to Wake's elected commissioners. One rule would limit the height of towers and other structures to about 600 feet, or 60 stories -- more than twice the height of a typical cell phone tower.

"If they're taller than that, we might not want them anyway," said Melanie Wilson, Wake's planning director.

About 1,600 homes are in the regulated zone, with many more sure to come with growth.

Homes in the zone might someday need windows with more sound-proofing, Wilson said. But Franklin planners say they don't expect big jets.

That could make a difference in tiny but booming Rolesville, which lies smack under the Franklin airport's flight path.

Rolesville's planning staff endorsed the FAA restrictions.

But the town's commissioners, who discussed the issue last week, aren't going along.

They're concerned that more airplane noise in Rolesville could disturb town residents, hurt property values, or dampen development, town officials say.

"We don't feel like we're standing in the way," said Town Manager Matt Livingston, Franklin's former planning director. "The FAA probably will approve it anyway. But we want to be on record early on that we're not selling ourselves out."

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