Chesapeake to Give Airport Group Money for Its Legal Fees
By John Hopkins, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
May 11–CHESAPEAKE — The city has agreed to give the Chesapeake Airport Authority $140,000 for legal bills in a pending court battle with homeowners over airplane noise.
The one-time bailout comes from last fiscal year’s surplus and covers the Airport Authority’s most recent legal costs, according to acting City Manager Anne Odell. Legal fees are expected to grow in the long-standing battle with homeowners of West Landing Estates, a subdivision near the airport.
“Right now all we’ve done was ask for the funds we needed at this point,” said Joseph Love, airport manager. “I think we’ll have to go back to the city for further funds if we lose this case.”
Some homeowners at West Landing Estates sued the airport in 2004 over low flights they contend are destroying the tranquil, rural atmosphere of their community. Increased air traffic has essentially created an “air easement” over the homeowners’ property without just compensation, according to the property rights law firm of Waldo & Lyle, which represents the homeowners.
Earlier this year, Circuit Judge Randy Smith presided over a seven-day trial in the lead case of Osipovs vs. Chesapeake Airport Authority. Smith is expected to rule on the dispute soon.
If the judge rules the homeowners’ property was unlawfully taken, a jury of Chesapeake resident s would be selected to determine just compensation to homeowners.
The City Council approved the legal-fee payout to the Airport Authority earlier this year, Odell said. No guarantee was made to pay future legal bills, she said.
Taxpayers contribute yearly to the airport’s operating budget, providing $287,279, or 44 percent, of the airport’s budget this fiscal year. Taxpayers contributed the same amount the year before.
The city had a $24 million surplus from the last fiscal year and set aside $16 million for transportation needs. Another portion pays for bridge, drainage and intersection improvements, Odell said.
The airport received a share of the surplus for lawyers, a noise expert and other fees related to its court battle.
“We were just a small portion of it,” Love said. “Thankfully, there was money there to help us at that point.”
The Airport Authority, represented by Patrick O’Donnell of Kaufman & Canoles, contends it has done everything possible to keep airplane noise down in the area over West Landing. The airport, which opened in 1978, sits on about 450 acres off West Road in southern Chesapeake.
West Landing Estates, a roughly 30-home subdivision, was built in the early 1990s and is about a mile and a half from the end of the airport’s runway.
— Reach John Hopkins at (757) 222-5221 or john.hopkins@pilotonline.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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