DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, a big, noisy neighbor that has drawn ire from nearby residents for two decades, may be about to build its way into people’s hearts.
The airport’s director wants to close a crosswinds runway near Clairmont Road and build hangars to house 63 more planes. The $5.6 million project could mean that many more planes in and out of PDK, the state’s second-busiest airport.
But the plan also would take up the only available space for a central terminal that commercial planes would need if they ever set up shop there. With the hangars up, the passenger planes many residents fear could create “Hartsfield North” wouldn’t have enough room to operate.
“I think it’s a good thing, all around,” said the director, Mike Van Wie.
The county has owned the former U.S. Navy base since 1959, using the airstrip mostly for general aviation. As the area grew, however, plans were floated to turn PDK into a commercial airport.
Residents organized and forced those ideas into a continual holding pattern while also fighting for better environmental and noise control for their neighborhoods.
Some residents find the idea intriguing that new construction could put an end to talk of Delta or other airlines someday flying there.
“Our initial reaction to anything is caution,” said Larry Foster, a resident who has been involved with two groups battling with the airport, PDK Watch and Open DeKalb.
“If he’s right, that this could put an end to talk of commercial planes, we’d be more than happy to have that area taken out of commission,” Foster said.
County commissioners also want more information. Van Wie last week made his first presentation of the idea to the County Commission, looking to get a feel for support before he spends $350,000 on a design study.
That expense and all others would come from the county’s airport enterprise account. It’s funded by lease revenue from existing hangars and fueling fees for those tenants.
That money would increase with new hangars and is expected to pay off an investment in about 12 1/2 years. The hangars themselves have life spans more than twice that, making them a wise investment, Van Wie said.
At the same time, new hangars also could help the county financially. DeKalb could get up to $500,000 a year in property taxes on planes in the new hangars. The county also receives a share of sales taxes on all fuel sales.
“I think it would be a great idea, but we have to have a meeting with the community so we can assure people we are not planning a facility for AirTran,” Commissioner Stan Watson said.
Van Wie plans to present the proposal to the airport’s advisory board in the next month, where residents such as Foster can get more information.
If the board approves the plan, a design could be done by year’s end. If construction begins by early next summer, the hangars could be up in fall 2012.
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