Aerodrome land usage changed in Sussex plan

For a reason no one in Sussex County government knows, the land designation for the Eagle Crest Aerodrome at Hudson Fields near Milton was changed from the 2008 comprehensive plan to the 2018 comprehensive plan.

Now the owners, Christian and Jamin Hudson, want a correction made to the county's existing and future land-use maps and a change in the mobility element of the plan to show the airport on county maps.

The owners are requesting that the future land-use map be amended to show the use as industrial, not low density, and to amend the existing map from utilities and recreation usage to industrial usage. They also are requesting airport icons be placed on the map in Chapter 13 of the plan so that Eagle Crest is recognized as a private airport.

“We are asking that you correct these to recognize the historical use of the property,” said the applicants' attorney, John Paradee, during an Aug. 25 Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission public hearing. “If it's not changed, that use is taken away from us.”

The private airport has been in business since 1952.

He stressed that only the grass runway and hanger area are the subject of the proposed amendments.

Paradee said the proposed changes are important to the county from a land-use perspective for current and future planning.

Many of the flights at the airport are made by resident pilots who live along Eagle Crest Road and have backyard access to the airstrip.

“I don't know how these things happen,” said Commission Chair Bob Wheatley. “I was here in 2008 and 2018, and this was not an item of discussion.”

Wheatley added that all private airstrips in the county should be designated with an airport icon on the county map. “We need to know where all the planes are coming from,” he said.

Currently, only two public airports – Laurel and Delaware Coastal in Georgetown – are noted. There are at least seven private airstrips in the county.

Commissioner Kim Hoey Stevenson said different colors should be used to designate private and public airstrips.

Wheatley pointed out that the industrial designation would only pertain what is existing on the site now and is not considered a zoning district to allow for any other type of industrial uses.

“We've done a good job of protecting people who were there first. We should extend this to every airstrip in the county to designate and show in the plan so everyone knows the airstrip was there first,” Wheatley added.

During testimony, Eagle Crest Road resident and pilot John Chirtea said the Hudsons’ operation was a diamond among little glass beads.

Chirtea said 26 properties have access to the runway from their homes. Eagle Crest is the second-largest airport in the county and the fifth-largest in the state.

Another resident and pilot Chuck King said the airport is unique. “I looked all over the country for property like this,” he said. “This is really about planning for the future. You need to let people know there is an airport here.”

The commission voted to defer a decision to a future meeting.

In May 2018, the Sussex County Board of Adjustment reaffirmed the legally nonconforming use of Hudson Fields as an airport and special-events venue.