The Airport Overlay Ordinance is dead — at least in unincorporated Vanderburgh County

WNIN | By Tim Jagielo

Published February 21, 2024 at 5:59 PM CST

In early August, property owner Randall Weir urges the commission to vote the ordinance down, because he feels it threatens his retirement — a passive income venture into which he's spent a considerable sum already. "That's our retirement out there," he said. The commission had received many complaints and fielded concerns over the reach of the proposed Airport Overlay. The commission found an existing state law with minimum restrictions that would suffice.

The Evansville Regional Airport’s proposed Airport Overlay Zone Ordinance was too restrictive for the County Commissioners; they opted for existing state law regulating tall buildings instead

The different areas of the proposed overlay zone ordinance carry different limitations, which are outlined in the current draft of the law. — The different areas of the proposed overlay zone ordinance carry different limitations, which are outlined in a latter draft of the law. A version was adopted for city properties, not for unincorporated county properties.

At the Tuesday night Vanderburgh County Commissioners Meeting, the three-member body quietly ended a period of unease for property owners in the unincorporated county who reside immediately around the airport.

For several months the Airport Authority, supported by the state, had been working to offer an Airport Overlay Zone Ordinance the Evansville City Council and the County Commissioners could adopt.

The stated point of an airport overlay zone is to protect the future of the airport’s growth and the safety of airline staff, passengers and property owners on the ground.

This is done by creating zones of increasing restriction on properties the closer they are to a runway.

But the ordinance, even after rewriting, raised too many concerns over property rights. Property owners were worried about resale value and even whether they could rebuild their home if need be, within the more restrictive zones.

So, the Commission went a different route.

They did not adopt the ordinance provided by the airport, they instead passed an ordinance adding a section of existing state law to the local code.

It’s called “Ordinance Adding Section 8.05 Regulating Tall Structures as Codified in State Law.” It simply restricts the height of buildings depending on proximity to the runways. There are also considerations on noise-sensitive businesses like daycares or nursing homes. This affects more than 8,200 parcels in the unincorporated county.

The City of Evansville adopted the more complex overlay zone ordinance last year.

Prior to this, Evansville Regional Airport was the only commercial airport in Indiana without an airport overlay zone.

“This is the result of the airport overlay zone after meeting with state and federal regulators. It was pointed out that these terms already existed under state code,” said assistant county attorney Craig Emig during the meeting. This solution was acceptable to the Airport Authority.

“They suggested that if the county were to adopt a local ordinance, highlighting the state code that's already in effect, that that would be sufficient to preserve and maintain any investments that they might have in the airport.”

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