Understanding Oklahoma’s Airport Zoning Regulations
Hello, I’m Oklahoma City business law attorney Dillan Savage of Wirth Law Office, and I practice primarily in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area. Today, we are going to be talking about zoning regulations and required action by political subdivisions in order to get permits in regards to making sure that they don’t exceed federal obstruction standards for buildings that would normally obstruct airplanes and other like vehicles that fly throughout the sky—aeronautical-type stuff.
If you want to find this statute, you can go to the Oklahoma statute found in Title 3, Section 102.2. It is entitled Zoning Regulations to Permit Certain Variances. This statute itself is very short; it’s just a brief little blip.
Key Provisions of Airport Zoning Regulations
This statute states that airport zoning regulations adopted by any political subdivision pursuant to this act—meaning this statute—shall, at a minimum, require a permit or variance for the erection, alteration, or modification of any structure which would result in the structure exceeding the federal obstruction standards pursuant to 14 CFR Part 77. That 14 CFR Part 77 is, in fact, going to give you the detailed information on what that federal obstruction standard is.
More specifically, you can actually go look at 14 CFR Part 77.17, which is entitled—quite literally—Obstruction Standards. Depending on the situation that you’re going through—whether it’s a building or mobile vehicle that is being altered or created—you’re going to have different standards for what would actually violate those federal obstruction standards.
Understanding Obstruction Standards
To give you kind of a viewpoint, I’ll just read off a brief blip of 77.17 obstruction standards:
“An existing object, including a mobile object, is—and a future object would be—an obstruction to air navigation if it is of a greater height than any of the following heights or surfaces:
A height of 499 feet above ground level at the site of the object;
A height that is 200 feet above ground level or above the established airport elevation—whichever is higher—within three nautical miles of the established reference point of an airport (excluding heliports) with its longest runway more than 3,200 feet in actual length.
That height increases in proportion of 100 feet for each additional nautical mile from the airport, up to a maximum of 499 feet.”
That’s just a little bit of it. Obviously, it’s going to matter what your circumstances specifically are.
It’s important to make sure that, when you are working for these political subdivisions—whatever you’re doing, whatever permit you are requesting—you know the details, and you know what specific case you’re falling under for the obstruction standards.
Get Expert Legal Assistance
If you found this video to be helpful or you believe it could help someone else, please go to TheOklahomaCityAttorney.com. For personalized guidance on airport zoning regulations, call me at 405-888-5400 for a low-cost consultation. My name is Dillan Savage, and thank you for watching.
