(A) Purpose and Intent
The Airport Overlay is established to accomplish the following purposes:
(1) To limit allowable land uses in the immediate vicinity of Raleigh-Durham International Airport to non-residential uses, such as industrial, agricultural, commercial, or conservation uses, which are not subject to high population concentrations, and to keep residential and institutional uses from developing in those areas that are subject to the highest levels of aircraft noise;
(2) To ensure that such uses are located, designed, constructed, and maintained in a manner that does not impair the safe operation of the airport;
(3) To ensure that such uses contribute to the attractiveness of the roadside, which will in turn contribute to and enhance trade, tourism, capital investment, property values, and the general welfare; and
(4) To ensure that such uses are in compliance with the Raleigh-Durham International Airport Height Zoning Ordinance and other supplemental regulations.
(B) Location and Applicability; Compliance Required
The Airport Overlay is an overlay district that applies over lands in the vicinity of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The boundaries of the Airport Overlay shall be shown on the Official Zoning Map.
(C) Process for Reviewing Developments; Approval by the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority
(1) Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Approval
The authority shall be involved with the review of development plans and building permits for structures over fifty (50) feet as measured to the highest part of the structure. The following requirements are to ensure compliance with the authority's ordinances.
(a) No development plan for property located within the Overlay may be approved unless notification has been received from the Airport Authority that the development complies with its Height Zoning Ordinance and any other supplemental regulations that may apply. The applicant is required to secure and provide the necessary documentation from the Authority on compliance with its ordinances to the Planning Director.
(b) No building permit shall be issued for establishment of a structure or expansion of an existing structure at a height of greater than fifty (50) feet unless there has first been issued by the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority (1) a permit for the structure under the provisions of its ordinances, or (2) a determination that a permit is not required for the structure.
(2) Supplemental Regulations of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport Authority
All development within the Airport Overlay shall also comply with the airspace regulations adopted by the Raleigh-Durham International Airport Authority, as may be amended from time to time, which are incorporated herein by reference. Whenever said airspace regulations impose more stringent requirements or limitations than are required by this Ordinance, the provisions of the airspace regulations shall control.
(D) Prohibited Uses and Structures
(1) Prohibited Uses
(a) Residential uses, including all forms of dwellings, manufactured homes, nursing homes, and life care communities;
(b) Places of public assembly and institutional uses including schools, colleges, churches, day care centers, clubs and lodges, libraries, museums, and hospitals, but not including arenas or stadiums for sporting events;
(c) Indoor and outdoor amusement establishments;
(d) Guest houses;
(e) Correctional or penal institutions;
(f) Radio and television broadcasting stations;
(g) Landfills or quarries;
(h) Warehousing/above-ground bulk storage of explosive, hazardous, flammable, or combustible materials, and related facilities or operations that could pose a threat to the welfare of the public in the event of an aircraft crash or other mishap;
(i) Petroleum refining and other related uses that may be susceptible to explosion or fire;
(j) Outdoor storage of certain goods and materials, including but not limited to the following: oxides; coal; ores; minerals; produce; furniture; flammable or combustible building supplies; paper and frame products; or wrecked, dismantled or partially dismantled vehicles.
(k) Wildlife sanctuaries, refuges, and other uses that may be an attractant to birds.
(2) Prohibited Lighting
(a) Any moving, pulsating, flashing, rotating, or oscillating light, other than navigational markings or lights marking potential obstructions in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration requirements;
(b) Flood lights, spot lights, or other lighting devices which are not shielded so as to prevent illumination in an upward direction;
(c) Any lights which make it difficult for pilots to distinguish between airport lights and others, results in glare in the eyes of pilots using the airport, impairs visibility in the vicinity of the airport or otherwise in any way endangers or interferes with the landing, takeoff or maneuvering of aircraft intending to use the airport.
(3) Prohibited Electronic Signals
Any electronic impulse or signal which interferes with radio communications between aircraft and the airport, or which interferes with established navigation aids, is prohibited in the Airport Overlay.
(4) Prohibited Structures
Structures in excess of the applicable height limit established for the Zones specified in the "Raleigh-Durham International Airport Height Zoning Ordinance" adopted by the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority and as may be amended from time to time by the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority are prohibited in the Airport Overlay. Structure means an object, including a mobile object, constructed, or installed by man, including, but not limited to, buildings, towers, cranes, earth formations, and overhead transmission lines.
(E) Nonconforming Uses and Structures
Nonconforming uses and structures may be continued in the Airport Overlay in accordance with Chapter 10 of this Ordinance. However, no building permit shall be issued that would allow the expansion of a structure or use that does not comply with the requirements of this Ordinance.
(F) Location of Buildings and Parking Areas
All buildings and structures located in the Airport Overlay shall meet the minimum setback requirements of the underlying zoning district and any other applicable setback requirements set forth elsewhere in this Ordinance. All parking areas in the Airport Overlay shall be located no less than thirty (30) feet from the right-of-way of a major thoroughfare.