THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 5, 1996 TAG: 9601050455
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EASTVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
If Robert Starer wants a runway in Northampton County, he's going to have to move the one he's already built, shorten it by 1,000 feet and leave it in turf.
That's the recommendation that Northampton County planning commissioners approved Wednesday night after Starer, a Virginia Beach businessman, told them they had no right to tell him what kind of runway he could build.
``We don't think it's proper for you to put any restrictions on the length of the runway or the orientation,'' Starer told the planning commission. He said runway specifications are safety issues regulated by federal law, and not within the county's authority.
Chairman Denard Spady told Starer that the county was not obligated to give him a permit to build a runway long enough for jets or turbo-prop planes. And the usually unflappable chairman lost his patience when Starer repeatedly insisted that a longer runway would keep down noise levels for the neighbors.
``You're using a circular argument to try to convince us that we have to let you do what you want to do,'' snapped Spady.
Starer is the majority owner of Computer Dynamics Inc. in Virginia Beach. He has built a 5,000-foot runway - without zoning approval - on his 375-acre waterfront farm. The runway's flight pattern intersects with that of a nearby airport owned by Page Scott. State aviation officials have said that Starer's strip poses unacceptable safety hazards.
In December, Starer agreed to move his strip and make it parallel to Scott's. The two would operate as a single airport with multiple runways. Although it solves one problem, the proposed realignment creates another: the east end of the runway would point directly at several homes.
Although it solves one problem, the proposed realignment creates another: the east end of the runway would point directly at several homes.
Northampton's planning staff recommended that the runway be realigned, and shortened by 1,000 feet on the east end to create a larger buffer between the strip and the homes.
Several of Starer's neighbors have opposed his 5,000-foot runway because they fear he will eventually land his Lear jet or turbine-powered aircraft there. Both make a lot of noise and would destroy the value of their homes, say the neighbors.
``We have no intention, right now, to land the jet there,'' said Starer at Wednesday's meeting. But, he said, he was ``not willing to set restrictions on what we might do in the future.''
Starer carefully avoided saying that he would not land jets or turbo-prop planes on his strip. He did say ``economic factors'' would make it impractical because a rock or piece of debris sucked into an engine would destroy it.
And the cost of paving the runway would be a limiting factor in the strip's future use, he said.
After a heated discussion, the planning commission voted 7-2 in favor of a permit to build a 4,000-foot runway with the 1,000-foot buffer at the east end; realigned to be parallel with Page Scott's runway; a turf surface; and limited to personal and private use.
That recommendation will go to the county board of supervisors, which has zoning authority. A public hearing on the permit is scheduled for Monday.
During the discussion, an angry Starer threatened not to build the shorter runway at all. No problem, responded several members of the planning commission.
``We're not here to negotiate with him in any sense,'' said Spady. by CNB