Commission goes to court over airpark
Published 10:38am Thursday, February 16, 2012
CHESAPEAKE — The fate of property adjacent to the Lawrence County Airpark may be decided in court.
Recently the Lawrence County Commissioners filed a petition in common pleas court to acquire through eminent domain 47 acres contiguous to the current boundaries of the airpark.
“It is a safety issue,” said Chesapeake attorney Richard Meyers, who filed the petition for the commissioners. “We have been working on it for a long time. Getting it surveyed took a long time.”
Smaller parcels around the airpark have already been acquired through negotiations with their owners.
On Jan. 20, 2011, the commission passed a resolution stating there was a public need to expand the airpark to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
“(Those requirements were for) runway safety areas, air space removal, approach surface penetration, the land and air scale regulations as identified in the Lawrence County Cemetery Study (July 2002), the Runway Safety Area Study of Airport 2004 and the Airport Master Plan update of March 2005,” the resolution stated.
The property sought is owned by North Kenova Holdings, LLC, and North Kenova Development Co. Inc., companies owned by members of the Wilson family. The Wilson family provided the land to the county for the airpark decades ago through a reversion lease. The land must be used as a county airpark or the acreage reverts back to the Wilson family.
“(Acquiring the land) is a grant from (the FAA),” Meyers said. “The Wilsons have not responded to me. We had to go through this formal procedure.”
The property sought through the petition and the airpark acreage have been issues between the commissioners and the Wilson family for several years.
During a commission meeting in 2008, then Commission President Jason Stephens criticized Richard Wilson for not cutting down trees at the end of the runway that Stephens said created a hazard for pilots flying in and out of the airpark.
At that time Wilson disputed Stephens’ claim, calling it bogus, and faulted the county for allowing the Eastern Lawrence County Youth Soccer League to use the airpark. That use was dangerous for the children and violated the terms of the lease, he said.
The soccer league has since moved to a site at the Ohio University Southern-Proctorville Campus.
“The league has grown so much and we moved to a better location,” Stephens said. “But the county owns the property where the airport is.”
The commissioners are offering $280,000 for the acreage petitioned.
“That is obviously not fair,” Wilson said. “I really don’t have a figure but anyone who knows anything about 47 acres on the Ohio River strategically located, it is totally ridiculous. It is one of the best pieces of real estate on the Ohio River. It has never flooded and you are telling me it is worth $280,000. Eminent domain is certainly a misuse of government powers in this situation and should be looked into by every citizen of Lawrence County. It is just another government acquisition of private property.”
If the property is worth so much why are they not doing anything with it? Property right at the end of a runway is very high priced property. As many people want to live or work with planes leaving and landing overtop of them. Sure it may be worth more but if it is worth a lot more then they should be paying property taxes on that high amount.
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It’s funny how people can look in the past and present.But obviously forget the future. I’m sure things can get better at the airport with a longer runway and some clearing here and there.As for the Wilsons come on give me a break. I’m sure you wont go broke for letting that property go. It’s just a matter of greed.. The root of all evil. And to willow. It can change to airport with upgrades made to attract attention..
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Eminent Domain is an action to seize a citizen’s private property or seize a citizen’s rights in a property without the owner’s consent (usually for bridges, highways, railroads, etc). The citizen is paid for the property but often times not the true worth or without considering sentimental value of the property to the owner. In the past, property has been taken for government projects but more recently local governments (cities, towns, etc) are attempting to “seize” property for WalMarts or to remove blighted areas to devote it to some ‘public use’ or economic development. This type of eminent domain abuse has been met with court cases receiving national attention and many states have passed legislation to reduce the abuse. Eminent domain has become a serious threat to the individual property rights of citizens and something that no one should take lightly. The county may feel their reasoning is “just” due to FAA regulations yet I would be asking how those regulations apply to the current use and conditions at the Chesapeake airpark. From an external observation, the use of the airpark has not changed (including the size of the planes) for 30 years or more and as was mentioned in another comment — who benefits? Is the airpark used for commercial activities or recreational pleasure? The name “airpark” rather than “airport” is interesting.
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If the trees are not a hazard then why not build a high rise building where the trees are?
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I am so surprised the Wilson’s didn’t rush out to the Airport and cut those trees immediately when the expert insurance salesman and obviously expert air traffic controller for Lawrence County deemed the trees a safety hazard.
I agree with the Wilson’s, the property’s commercial and development value is likely in the millions.
Eminent Domain is very often abused as it appears to be in this situation. The county likely found the new FAA regulations as a conduit to ‘take’ the property which has been a source of contention between the county and the Wilson’s.
I think it was a noble gesture on the part of Mr. Wilson to allow the county to use the property all these years as an airport in the first place and this is how we repay his family with a sickly offer of $280,000? Shame!
What goes on at this airport besides skydiving? What benefits do county citizens receive — I sincerely would like to know, surely someone has a list of reasons we have an airport. How much does the airport cost taxpayers yearly? If Wilson’s want to fight the taking of their land, then find this information and present it in a letter to the editor so all citizens know what goes on there and how much it costs for upkeep and maintenance and who exactly benefits besides soccer teams and a few private planes?
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