A proposal for a private grass runway on a 29.2-acre parcel of land fronting on Route 14 and adjacent to a subdivision got the thumbs down from the Mathews County Planning Commission after a public hearing in the historic courthouse Tuesday night.

Planners voted 5-2 to recommend that the board of supervisors deny the application for a conditional use permit by developer Joe Perdue of Port Haywood on property adjacent to Fickle Fen Road that he recently purchased from Mark and Elaine Sopko of Foster. The board of supervisors is expected to hold its own public hearing on the matter during the April 17 meeting.

During the public hearing—the second such hearing held on the application in a two-month period because the applicant purchased the property in the interim—a lengthy statement of opposition was presented to the commission, with a number of residents using their allotted three minutes of speaking time to successively read portions of the statement.

Speakers questioned the safety of having an airstrip so close to a residential neighborhood and objected to the noise they said they’ve experienced from planes taking off and landing at Perdue’s existing airstrip, which is just 1,900 feet away from the proposed one.

Jennifer Locey of Peach Point Road said the proposed landing strip would be just 400 feet from her home and less than that from the road she and others use daily. Although Perdue told the commission that he’ll only be doing occasional take-offs and landings at the strip, Locey said there were no restrictions on how much he could fly. In addition, she said that the commission doesn’t know what kinds of planes are owned by the friends Perdue has stated will occasionally use the landing strip, or how often they would be flying.

Successive speakers raised issues with having planes taking off and landing over Route 14, possibly distracting drivers; questioned the decibel levels of the noise Perdue’s plane would generate; and expressed concerns about potential environmental impacts.

Diane Lawson of Peach Point Road read the closing statement, asking the commission to consider the needs of the community.

“He doesn’t need this airstrip,” she said. “He wants it. His wants should not overpower the need for safety, security, welfare, peace, and quality of life for 28 families.”

Also speaking was Peach Point resident James Croxton, who raised issue with the impact on home values that a nearby landing strip could possibly have and questioned who would be responsible for enforcing any violations of the conditional use permit, if issued. He said a landing strip nearby would require that he reduce the sale price of his home “because potential buyers will have the same concerns as we do.”

“I wonder and can only assume why Mr. Perdue isn’t putting his landing strip near his home or his neighbors’ homes,” said Croxton. “I ask each of you: Would you want this near your homes and families?”

Commission members discussed the possibility of placing various requirements on Perdue, such as limiting the number of other people who could use the airstrip, limiting the number of times they could use it, and installing signs on Route 14 to alert motorists about the airstrip. But commission member Donald Morgan questioned how any violations could be overseen.

“How do you prove it?” he said. “It would be his word against somebody else’s. I don’t see how you could prove and enforce restrictions.”

Commission member James Meade moved to approve the air strip, but his motion was supported by just one other commissioner, Frances Minor.

In other matters, the commission:

—Unanimously denied an application by Alandus Ware requesting that his property at 10541 Buckley Hall Road in Mathews Court House be rezoned so that he can place an equipment rental business on the property, which once housed a moving and storage business and, most recently, a packing and shipping business. Planners said they would welcome such a business at the site, but that it would be considered spot zoning and that the applicant should instead request a conditional use permit;

—Unanimously approved the revised bylaws, and

—Welcomed Robert Riddle of Mathews as the eighth member of the commission, as designated by the Mathews Board of Supervisors at the February meeting.