PDK WATCH NEWSLETTER
August 1999
PDK
Watch’s purpose is to protect and assure the future of our
established residential neighborhoods and quality of life in the
area affected by PDK Airport.
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Community Prevails in August Hearing,
Renewed Effort Needed in September
Thanks to the
efforts of citizens who filled the auditorium at the August 2
rezoning hearing, who wrote letters to the Board of Commissioners
(BOC), and who worked hard to get the message out, the BOC voted
to defer the decision on the land use change and rezoning of
airport property for an airplane hangar until the September cycle
of hearings. The Commissioners heard the argument about the
inaccurate and incomplete applications, and they want more
information concerning the issue and assurance that the property
is identified properly.
The applications
included a legal description of the property that did not match
the maps used at the three public hearings for the Community
Council, the Planning Commission, and the Board of Commissioners.
In fact, the legal description is for a larger piece of property
than shown on the accompanying maps. There is fear the
development encroaches into the adjacent buy out area, especially
since the applications identified the land as being purchased
through the 150 Noise Compatibility Program. The
Commissioners want the buy out property used as greenspace not
airport development.
Another major
problem involved the land use designation for the property.
The Planning Department recommended withdrawal for the
application for a land use change since the map in their
department showed the land having the land use designation being
sought. However, the land use maps adopted with the
Comprehensive Plan in 1996 and locked securely in the vault in
the Finance Department show a land use of low density
residential. This means a land use change is required prior
to a zoning change.
Other problems:
The applications did not contain the proper authorizations signed
by the owner of the property for any change in land use or
zoning. The applications stated the property is in a runway
protection zone (RPZ), but no building is allowed in the RPZ for
safety reasons.
We must continue to
write letters, attend hearings, and inform
neighbors.
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See the enclosed list of names and addresses.
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Mark your calendars for the Planning Commission hearing Tuesday,
September 7,
at 7:00 P.M. and the BOC hearing Tuesday, September 28, at 7:00
P.M.
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Get your neighbors to join you in the opposition to airport
expansion.
Law Department Does Not Write Requested
Ordinance
While the community
was awaiting a promised ordinance prohibiting regularly scheduled
passenger and cargo service at PDK, DeKalb County’s law
department, with guidance from the FAA, was instead writing an
ordinance that would gut the longstanding 1976 county
ordinance prohibiting planes of over 75,000 pounds from using the
airport (except with special prior permission). The
proposed new ordinance would give the Airport Director free reign
to allow any planes he wants, with no effective controls over
such actions.
No new weight limit
ordinance is needed at PDK. Rather, Airport Director Lee
Remmel needs to enforce the existing ordinance (as
previous airport directors have done). Toward that end, the
County Commissioners should pass a procedural clarification,
stipulating the special circumstances under which the Airport
Director may allow planes of over 75,000 pounds to use the
airport -- on an exceptional basis only.
The larger issue of
passing an ordinance prohibiting regularly scheduled passenger
and cargo service was addressed by the law department in one
inadequate and unenforceable sentence in its proposed new weight
limit ordinance. The time has come for the commissioners to
revisit the carefully drafted 1996 “compromise”
ordinance proposal prohibiting regularly scheduled service.
This proposal was never substantively critiqued by the county law
department.
Write your
commissioners urging them to pass an ordinance, with effective
enforcement provisions, that clearly states that there will be no
scheduled passenger or cargo service at PDK.
County’s Staff Justifies PDK
Watch’s Position on Land Value at PDK
Less than 18 months
ago at a March 5 public hearing the results of the Cost/Benefit
study for DeKalb-Peachtree Airport were presented. CEO
Liane Levetan supported the $60,000 per acre that the consultant,
RKG, Inc., used in their analysis as the value of airport
property. PDK Watch challenged that land value since just a
few years prior the county had purchased land adjacent to the
airport for a health clinic at $200,000 per acre.
Recently it was
disclosed that the airport staff has reached an agreement with
the United States government on the value of some airport
property that the federal government (IRS) will purchase. The
agreed upon appraisal value is $594,000 for 1.4774 acres. That
is $402,057.67 per acre -- an incredible 570% increase in less
than two years!
Ask CEO Levetan What She Has Done to Keep
Her Promise
CEO Liane Levetan
says the county will not expand the airport and will not allow
regularly scheduled passenger or cargo service at PDK.
Write and request her to specify the steps she has taken to make
sure this promise is kept. Her address is 1300 Commerce
Drive, Decatur GA, 30030.
Reminder: Call 770-936-5442 to
report intrusive noise from PDK Airport.
PDK Watch Needs Your Support More Than
Ever!
Due to a number of
recent issues and concerns about the operation of
DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, PDK Watch has incurred more costs for
mailings and fliers. One way to fight airport expansion is
to make a check payable to Sven O. Lovegren and note that
it is for PDK Watch. Then please mail to:
Sven O. Lovegren
Attn.: PDK Watch
2331 Annapolis
Court
Atlanta GA 30345
Please copy and distribute this
newsletter, but remember that no copy goes into a mailbox without
the proper postage.