Airpark proposal for East Hants not taking off

Municipal planners in East Hants are noton board for a businessman's plan to build a mini airport.

Jim Johnston, owner of Vision Air Services, a helicopter business, wants to develop an airpark in Belnan, a tiny community north of the Halifax International Airport.

The proposal calls for a helipad and maintenance building, as well as a 1,000-metre landing strip and hangar for small aircraft. There would also be 14 houses for flying enthusiasts parallel to the runway.

"It just made perfect sense to me," Johnston said. "I've got quite a few people calling that were very interested in moving their aircraft to the park."

John Woodford, director of planning for theMunicipality ofEast Hants, says airpark communities are becoming as popular as golf communities.

"Apparently there are over 500 of them in the U.S., about a dozen in Canada," Woodford said, noting there's one in Nova Scotia in Lunenburg County.

But many residents in the Belnan area are worried about the noise. They also say the airpark would create air pollution and lower the property values of their homes.

The latest report bymunicipalstaffsays the proposalwould be "jarring" and inconsistent for a rural landscape.

The planning advisory committee has recommended that the airpark proposal not be approved.

A public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28, and East Hants councillors will have the final say.