Wendell News Outlet

Airport or no airport? After listening to the presentation about the Phase Two Airport Feasibility Study for Eastern Wake County, I am searching for the compromise that Mr. Crammer hopes can be found on this issue.

What is this airport to the Town of Wendell? It is a parking lot for airplanes. The fee to park a plane in Wendell is paid to the Town of Wendell in the form of property taxes. A positive financial result for the town would be that the surrounding property is no longer desirable for residential development due to the noise and proximity to the airport. Then commercial developers would buy the surrounding lands as they become available over the years and create a business corridor along highways 264 and 97. Why is this beneficial to the town? Businesses generally pay more dollars per acre in taxes than residences. Businesses keep a town or city alive financially. The reason to build the airport is to slow down residential development and increase commercial development.

I have already submitted two pages of questions to Mayor Broadwell that need to be considered before our town responds to the Phase Two Study. One of the questions is “Will Wake County lower their portion of property taxes on airplanes parked at the new proposed airport so that the “parking fees” are as low as RDU’s?” We need to be a competitively priced parking lot if someone is to park a plane in it.

The compromise.....if we could only take advantage of highway 97 and it’s access to highway 264 via Lizard Lick Road and create a business development corridor. But this would take cooperation among the property owners and developers. People would have to voluntarily relocate for the good of the town. Property owners would have to refuse to sell out to residential development. Commercial developers would have to be willing to pay as much for land as the residential developers; or possibly find some other partnership that is a win-win situation. Developers would have to be willing to absorb road expansion fees. Our town would have to work together to market itself to the greater Easter NC market. Everyone involved would have to be willing to make a little less profit in order to make a great little town. Could this really happen?

Honestly, it will be easier to piss everyone off and build an airport than to really work towards a good compromise.