The purpose of this article is to maintain a safe environment for aircraft to navigate to, from, and around the Shelby Municipal Airport through the prohibition and mitigation of circumstances that may pose a hazard to aerial navigation within the airport overlay district.

In order to outline definitely the horizontal and vertical limits beyond which the projection of any structure or tree will constitute an airport hazard the airport zoning plan, dated July 15, 2004, of the Shelby Municipal Airport, Shelby, North Carolina, is hereby incorporated into this chapter and made a part thereof. The ordinance administrator shall make the Plan available for public inspection.

All proposed structures having a finished height of 200 feet or more above grade shall be required to provide a certification from the FAA Office of Obstruction Evaluation and Airport Airspace Analysis (OE/AAA) that the structure does not pose a hazard to aerial navigation. If a structure is determined to be a hazard, or if a hazard determination letter is not submitted with the application, all permits for the proposed structure shall be denied by the ordinance administrator unless the proposed structure is altered in a manner to eliminate the hazard.

In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the following zones are hereby established as hereinafter defined and as shown on the airport zoning plan.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, no use may be made of land within any approach surface zone, horizontal surface zone, conical surface zone or transitional surface zone, in such manner as to create electrical interference with radio communication between airport and aircraft, create obstructions for aircraft using the airport, impair visibility in the vicinity of the airport, or otherwise endanger the landing, taking off or maneuvering of aircraft.

Any permit or variance granted, if the action is deemed advisable to effectuate the purposes of the airport overlay district and reasonable in the circumstances, shall be so conditioned as to require the owner of the structure in question to install, operate and maintain thereon the markers and lights as may be necessary to indicate to aircraft the presence of an airport hazard.

The established elevation of the airport is: 847 feet MSL.

The airport reference point is established at a location described as follows: the midpoint on the NE-SW runway centerline; 2,500 feet from either end of the 5,000-foot x 100-foot runway.

The approach surface zone is an inclined plane located directly above the approach area. The dimensions of the approach area are measured horizontally. The approach areas for each particular runway are symmetrically located with respect to the extended runway centerlines and have lengths and widths as shown on the airport zoning plan, which also shows the slopes of the respective approach surface zones.

The horizontal surface zone is a plane, circular in shape, with its height 150 feet above the established airport elevation and having a radius from the airport reference point as indicated on the airport zoning plan.

The conical surface zone extends upward and outward from the periphery of the horizontal surface zone with a slope of 20:1 measured in a vertical plane passing through the airport reference point. Measuring radially outward, from the periphery of the horizontal surface zone, the conical surface extends for a horizontal distance as shown on the airport zoning plan.

The transitional surface zones are inclined planes with a slope of 7:1 measured upward and outward in a vertical plane at right angles to the center line of the runway. The transitional surface zones, symmetrically located on either side of the runway, extend upward and outward from a line on either side of the runway which is parallel to and level with the runway centerline. These parallel lines are at a horizontal distance from the runway centerline equal to one-half of the minimum width of each approach area as shown on the airport zoning plan.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no structure shall be erected, altered, maintained, or tree allowed to grow in any airport approach surface zone, horizontal surface zone, conical surface zone or transitional surface zone to a height in excess of the height herein established for the zone. The height limit for a particular location shall be the difference between the existing ground elevations of the four surface zones in question, as shown by aerial contours. For purposes of this chapter, height limits shown on the airport zoning plan are hereby established for each of the zones in question.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article to the contrary, the height limits prescribed by this article shall not establish for any particular parcel of land at any particular point within the parcel, a height limit of less than 30 feet above the surface elevation of the land at that point.