MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Living next to an airport has its ups and downs.
However, Rich and Casey Bilz say four years next to Baldwin County's airport have been great.
“It's actually a pretty quiet neighborhood other than when planes are taking off,” Rich said
They say that's thanks to the 80 ft tall trees.
“We could not even see the planes that were on the taxiway, it was that dense,” he said.
However, a month ago, the Bilz said the 80 ft tall buffer that separated the airport from their front lawn was wiped out.
“We didn't know what was going on. There was never one notice put in their mailbox,” Bilz explained.
In April, the airport got a $2 million state grant to expand, including two hangars and a private entrance to it being built hundreds of feet from the Bilzs and neighbors.
Now with the trees gone, Bilz says they can smell jet fumes.
“It was the very next day. The winds were blowing the jet fumes from a jet taking off. If we're entertaining, we have family. We don't want everyone to breathe in jet fumes,” he explained. “Some of our neighbors are elderly. Some of them have pulmonary issues, so if they can’t go outside to get their mail, we’re gonna have some issues.”
They’re also worried about their property values.
If they wanted to leave because of the smell, potential noise, and traffic, they worry they couldn't sell their home.
“There's not a person in this neighborhood that's against progress," Bliz said. "We just don’t want the buildings to get there and we can’t go back. Right now we could go back and right now they could move them."
Baldwin County manager Carlos Tobar says these plans got federal approval six years ago.
“The federal aviation process and the Department of Community Affairs process– we had to develop an airport plan that included these hangers. They had meetings where they had dozens of people, neighbors from the airport, homeowners who were aware of what was happening,” Tobar explained.
After commissioners approved those plans over five years ago, they held three meetings open to the public.
He says they’re a land-use county, so they don’t have zoning regulations. Therefore, they're not required to inform folks of construction.
“We sent out newsletters, it was streamed on Facebook," Tobar said. "The information has always been there, it's on our website now. It's been there for over five and half years."
Tobar says they had to cut down the trees for construction.
“These are long-leaf pines that are along that fence line. They don’t mix. They’re tall and their root system isn’t very strong, and they’re constantly falling over on our fence line,” he explained.
He says they always planned to replant a natural buffer after construction was finished.
“Our tree architect will place some trees there, or recommend some trees that won’t grow too tall– about 30 ft. Will be somewhat bushy to block noise and wind," Tobar said. "The trees that we will plant first will be about 6ft tall and then they’ll grow to about 30 ft.”
Tobar says he sympathizes with the people who are concerned, but says there are risks living next to an airport.
“We do know that there were some new residents there who were not there six years ago, and I feel for them. I beg residents to pay attention to what's happening in your local government,” he explained. “Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, watch our meetings because everything we do is out there for the public.”
Tobar says the hangars will have a private entrance on the east side of the airport. He says he's heard people's feedback and changed the driveway to place trees between the hangars to block additional air and noise.
Bilz says they will go to the County Commission meeting Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Baldwin County Government building to share their concerns.