A business owner in rural Monroe County will likely get to enjoy an airplane runway on his property after receiving approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals at its latest meeting Monday night.

Bradley Horn, who operates the contracting business Better Homes with Brad Horn, requested a special use exception for an aircraft landing field at his property located at 4972 LL Road.

In specific, Horn expressed a desire to develop a 1,300 foot grass strip stretching from east to west along his property in order for him to keep and use one of his personal planes at home.

Horn explained he currently flies out of Sparta Community Airport, a roughly 35-minute drive that makes it difficult for him to make use of his aircraft as he is often quite busy with his job.

A number of concerns were discussed between Horn and members of the board, from water – Horn explained he would have pipes running under the runway for drainage purposes – to overall activity.

Horn said he would only be using one plane on the strip: a private aircraft specifically modified to be able to take off and land along such a small grass runway.

He still requested the exception be granted to accommodate up to six planes in case he wished to invite friends over – though he and another aviation enthusiast friend spoke to the exceptionally few number of aircraft which would be able to land on the grass strip.

Horn also noted he hopes to avoid his strip being listed on Federal Aviation Administration charts as he wouldn’t want pilots attempting to land on his strip in an emergency situation.

“I’d just like to point out that what we’re debating is a grass strip 99.9 percent of the time, and I’ll be making more noise and dust by mowing it than using it,” Horn said. “If anybody’s been on LL Road for more than an hour, you know that I can’t possibly make more noise or traffic than what already occurs on the road.”

Discussion also touched on wind – Horn said he would be unable to fly in poor conditions but could always land at another airport should winds change mid-flight – and night flying – Horn plans to have small solar lights along the runway should he ever find himself trying to land later than he expected, though he said he doesn’t plan on going out on any late flights.

Horn further explained he has received signatures and general support from many of his neighbors, including those farmers owning property at either end of the runway.

The board ultimately approved Horn’s special use exception.

Another item receiving substantial attention from the board concerned Richard Brinkman and his property at 950 Floraville Road.

Brinkman requested a zoning ordinance amendment to rezone his property from A2 Agriculture to B2 Highway Business in order for he and his son and daughter to build and operate a collection of storage units.

Brinkman, who was joined by his daughter Bryanna Story, noted the property had previously hosted Brinkman Farm Equipment as it has been owned by the family for some time.

He stressed they have no intentions of operating any business beside the storage facility.

The current plan, as Brinkman explained, would be to open 68 units, potentially adding more in the future depending on how successful the storage operation is. He noted there is limited space on the property and thus limited room for an expansion.

Two individuals – Andrew Horrell and Mark Freeman – voiced concerns about granting the amendment as they live across the street in the Quail Ridge subdivision.

They spoke about traffic safety concerns, noting the possibility of increased traffic with a storage facility along a stretch of Floraville Road which, as they described, curves to impact driver visibility and sees people driving through at high speeds.

Horrell further noted the possibility of light pollution as well as the apparent conflict with the zoning comprehensive plan.

Brinkman and Story explained that they don’t expect to see high traffic as that seems to be uncommon for storage units in their experience. They also explained that any security lights they have would be attached to buildings rather than from larger poles.

The board ultimately approved this amendment.

The board also voted to recommend an area/bulk variance for Jimmie L. White at 4054 Rolling Hills Street in Fults for the purposes of putting a new cover over his camper trailer.

At the end of the meeting, the board also heard from Steve Lawrence at 5160 Bluff Road near Valmeyer, who requested a floodplain variance in order for him to put up a barn to house equipment he uses for his business.

While members of the board spoke with Lawrence for several minutes, offering recommendations on how he might go about building a structure as he hopes to, the variance was ultimately denied as he does not work in agriculture and thus would not be allowed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build in the floodplain given its rules on flood insurance.