Springfield airport looks to rezone land around airport from residential to industrial
Editor's note: A previous version of this story has been updated to correct information that was reported in error. The Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield is looking to rezoning land that it owns surrounding the airport from residential to industrial. The airport does not have plans to expand or build on this land.
The Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield is looking to rezone more than 47 million square feet of land from residential to industrial but has no plans to make any changes to the land.
The Springfield Airport Authority petitioned for a reclassification of zoning several airport-owned properties totaling over 1,000 acres from R-1 residential zoning to I-2 industrial.
The request to rezone the land alarmed some members of the neighboring Val-E-Vue subdivision who received letters notifying them of the petition.
The neighbors were particularly concerned about the potential future development on the nine acres of farmland between Horseshoe Drive and Pulliam Road that lies just north of their homes and south of airport's existing footprint.
At a Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Wednesday, Airport Authority attorney Don Craven assured residents that the nine acres of land north of Val-E-Vue would not be used for industrial growth and that the zoning change was being made to keep consistency.
"This zoning petition was filed to bring airport property into compliance with the current city code," Craven said in a statement on Friday. "I-2 is the only appropriate zoning category for airport property."
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Some neighbors also raised concerns that not all neighbors were properly notified of the pending change since some neighbors said they didn't receive letters.
“I think one of the issues that has come out of this is the airport board needs to do a better job of notifying and making the community aware when they’re going to do something,” retired CEO of Illinois Educators Credit Union Gene Taylors, who objected to the zoning, said after the commission meeting.
The Airport Authority agreed to keep the nine acres of land next to Val-E-Vue zoned residential. The zoning commission then approved the change from residential to industrial for more than 25 other parcels around the airport. A follow-up meeting will be held next month at the municipal building.
The Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport opened in 1947 in Sangamon County and over the years with expansion, has bought land annexed by the city of Springfield, making certain properties listed under the airport as residential zoning.
According to city code, land owned by airports should have an I-2 designation instead of R-1.
In 2023, Abraham Lincoln Capital airport expanded to start providing service with Breeze Airways, which provides nonstop service to Florida; the airport since 2021 has seen the completion of $20.7 million in infrastructure upgrades.
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for the State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield airport looks to rezoning more than 1,000 acres
