Currently, our nation is developing at a rapid rate. While continued development is inevitable, it takes plenty of forward-thinking and planning to avoid clashes with existing infrastructure. One area we see this come into play is within our aviation system.
Encroachment from incompatible development negatively impacts the longevity, effectiveness, and safety of our nation’s airports. Identifying best practices, tools, and effective strategies for enhancing compatibility planning practices is vital to the continued success of our national aviation system.
With the goal of more effectively using land surrounding airports and avoiding incompatible development, many states and local jurisdictions have implemented airport height, hazards, and land use compatibility zoning laws. Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) recently evaluated the effectiveness of these laws in preventing flight hazards and incompatible land uses around general aviation airports.
I recently worked on the ACRP Research Report 206: Guidebook on Effective Land Use Compatibility Planning Strategies for General Aviation Airports. The report aims to help airport operators understand the various tools for ensuring compatible land use and how best to communicate land use compatibility needs to government decision-makers and land use professionals, among other stakeholders. While there is no one strategy that is effective at all airports, all airports need to be proactive about land use compatibility if they want to remain viable in the future. Stephanie Ward, Mihir Shah, and I will be presenting on this topic during a TRB Webinar on Tuesday, December 10th. You can register to attend the free webinar at https://webinar.mytrb.org/Webinars/Details/1334.
Through our research, we at Mead & Hunt have consistently found that the most successful strategies involve the airport actively engaging in educating, communicating, and conducting outreach in their communities. We must come to understand airports as integral parts of a community that both impact and are impacted by communities surrounding them. When airports are treated as extensions of a community, we can create mutually beneficial relationships between airports and the communities they serve that will stand for generations to come.
