Leighton Township Clerk Mary Lou Nieuwenhuis estimated that between 150 and 200 people were in the audience Wednesday night at the Township Planning Commission’s hearing on a proposed air park, but about all that was decided is that an aviation expert will be sought to help provide answers to some unanswered questions.
The Township Board Thursday evening decided that such an expert will be sought, but not at public expense. Developer Clark Galloway will have to pay.
Galloway and his partner, Township Supervisor Steve Deer want to develop a 3,000-foot air strip near 144th Avenue and Kalamazoo Avenue and include about 15 residences with hangars for a special aviation residential community for as many as 25 planes.
Deer has been careful not to vote on any of the issues regarding the development and he has restrained himself from the public discussions.
Nearby residents have expressed opposition and three Planning Commission meetings and now three Township Board meetings. They have been citing concerns about noise, safety and compatibility with the rural residential and agricultural community they believe Leighton to be.
The site already has a private air strip, associated for more than 40 years with the Martin family, including Brian Martin, former Leighton Township trustee, but the stip is co-owned by Bill Martin.
However, resident Mark Ouwinga told the Township Board Thursday night he is asking Professional Code Inspections to investigate whether the old air strip has lost its grandfathered rights because it has had no activity for more than nine months and the land there has been plowed under.
He said though the air strip was permitted as a nonconforming use, “It still has to follow the rules… That runway has sat dormant for several years and it’s been plowed under… so they no longer have that right under the grandfather clause.
“They chose to plow under that property so it has been turned into a conforming use (agricultural).”
Ouwinga acknowledged the property recently has been used as an air strip, but insists that northing was happening there for quite some time before.
The Planning Commission hearing Wednesday night revealed one neighbor’s fears that a plane will strike his tower. Doug Wilcher, another nearby resident expressed fears he could lose his house insurance because of its closeness.
Attorney Jeff Sluggett of the legal firm of Bloom, Sluggett and Morgan spoke at the hearing Wednesday as the township’s legal representative.
Kate Scheltema, who co-owns a horse farm near the proposed strip, has opposed the idea from the beginning and has asserted it will cause harm to her horses and business.
She told the Township Board that she does not have a lot of faith in Galloway delivering on his promises.
”He’s not winning us over with trustworthiness,” she said. “I have trouble with what he says and he seems to have trouble living up to his promises.”
The issue once again is on hold until an aviation expert can be brought in to answer lingering questions about noise and environmental impact.
PHOTO: Mark Ouwinga explains his position against the proposed air strip to the Township Board while Kate Scheltema listens.
