Variance OK'd

A pond expansion will provide the dirt for a runway extension.

Portland Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday approved a variance request to allow for the expansion of a pond at 1388 W. 100 North. Dirt from the expansion will be used to level the area west of the current Portland Municipal Airport runway to allow for it to be extended to 5,500 feet from the current 4,000 feet.

Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn explained the request, which would expand the approximately half-acre pond owned by Greg Whitenack to about 4.5 acres. Such an expansion would typically not require a zoning variance, but the area is in Portland Municipal Airport’s overlay zoning district.

Several members of Portland Board of Aviation were on hand to confirm that the pond expansion does not interfere with the airport’s airspace or approach area, which is on the south side of county road 100 North.

Brian Keening of Indianapolis firm HIS Constructors, which is handling the runway extension project, explained that his company and the city have received a lot of interest from area landowners for providing dirt for the project. He noted that the offer from Whitenack seemed to make the most sense.

“This is in a pretty good location,” he said. “It’s an already existing pond, so it shouldn’t be an issue just to extend it out versus trying to do a whole new pond.”

The aviation board had already voted at its Feb. 17 meeting to recommend that HIS purchase the dirt from Whitenack.

“We just hope and pray this goes through,” aviation board president John Lyons told the board of zoning appeals. “We’ve been working on this for years.”

Board members Lee Newman, Larry Petro, Susan Schutz and Rusty Inman, absent Kyle Cook, approved the zoning variance.

The aviation board has been working toward the runway extension for more than two decades, with the possibility first discussed in 1999. The first major step toward the extension becoming a reality came in January 2015 when the Federal Aviation Administration approved the justification study for the proposed project. The board and its engineering firm, Butler, Fairman and Seufert, have been working toward the project ever since.

Another major step came in September, when the FAA announced it would fund 100% of phase one of the project — $2,398,762 — through additional money made available via the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Phase one construction is scheduled for this year, with phase two to follow in 2022.

The extension would allow larger aircraft to utilize the airport, with the justification study showing the possibility of 400 additional flights each year.

The board also approved changing the start time for its meetings to 5:30 p.m. from the traditional 5 p.m. Building and planning assistant director Pati McLaughlin explained that some members of the public had raised concerns, adding that it might be easier for members of the public to attend meetings if they started later.