Land Use Concerns
Airport compatible land uses are defined as those uses that can coexist with a nearby airport without either constraining the safe and efficient operation of the airport or exposing people living or working nearby to unacceptable levels of noise or hazards. This definition may appear vague since no specific land use types are identified. The vagueness is intentional because various types of land use can be either compatible or incompatible depending upon the particular aspects of the land use. The five common areas of concern or aspects of a land use that are evaluated for compatibility include:
Noise
Aircraft noise can impact local communities by causing annoyance, house vibration, learning difficulty, non-auditory health effects, and sleep disturbance. See the Noise page for additional information on the community impacts.
Tall Structures
When people think about land use characteristics that can be hazards to flight, the first thing likely to come to mind is tall structures. A person does not have to have aeronautical expertise to know that a high-rise building would pose a major problem if located at the end of a runway. Less obvious are tall buildings adjacent to a runway or ones located farther from the runway ends. Even structures not near an airport can be hazards to flight if they are tall enough. It is important to recognize that not just buildings and other structures pose potential concerns—trees, high terrain, power lines, temporary objects such as construction cranes, and mobile objects such as vehicles on a road can also be hazards in some situations.
Visual Obstructions
Although not a physical obstruction in the same sense that structures are, visual obstructions can also pose hazards to flight. Maintaining an unobstructed view for pilots is an important element in creating land use compatibility. Since many aircraft operations take place without navigational aids, clear visibility of the area around airports is essential. Land uses that obscure pilot visibility should be limited to ensure safe air navigation. Visibility can be obscured in various ways, including: dust, glare, light emissions, smoke, steam, and smog. Each of these should be managed when feasible, to limit its impact on aircraft and airport operations.
Wildlife Attractants
Aircraft collisions with wildlife are a threat to human health and safety and are steadily increasing. Wildlife attractants are defined in FAA AC 150/5200-33B as any human-made structure, land-use practice, or human-made or natural geographic feature that can attract or sustain hazardous wildlife within the landing or departure airspace or the airport’s Airport Operations Area (AOA). These attractants can include architectural features, landscaping, waste disposal sites, wastewater treatment facilities, agricultural or aquaculture activities, surface mining, open water, wetlands, and more (see Environmental tab for more information).