CAA: GA News, "New Hampshire Flight school ignores order"

["Stephen Irwin" <Stephen.Irwin@pmail.net>]

Wednesday, May 10, 2000

Flight school ignores order
Judge said town can ground business
By JENNIFER D. JORDAN
The Keene Sentinel


NORTH SWANZEY - The judge has spoken, the papers have been served, and yet
yesterday morning, helicopters were still swooping in and out of
Dillant-Hopkins Airport.

Two weeks ago, Superior Court Judge Robert Morrill ruled the Swanzey town
government has the right to shut down Green River Aviation Inc., a
helicopter and small-plane flight school at the airport. The airport is in
North Swanzey but is owned by the Keene city government.

The Swanzey planning and zoning boards found last summer that the school's
helicopters were so noisy, they violated town land-use laws.

The boards asked selectmen to order the flight school to close, but
selectmen chose to wait until the Superior Court ruled.

On Monday afternoon, based on the judge's ruling, the town government issued
a cease-and-desist order to Green River, requiring it shut down immediately.
But the school was still operating this morning.

Silas Little III, Green River's attorney, said he filed a motion Friday for
reconsideration of the judge's decision, issued April 24 in Sullivan County
Superior Court. The issue was heard there, because Cheshire County judges
had conflicts with the case.

"As far as I'm concerned, I filed a motion on Friday at noon," Little said,
and that legal action preceded Monday afternoon's delivery of the town's
cease-and-desist order.

But Swanzey's attorney in the case, Beth Fernald, says the flight school is
incorrect to think it can keep operating.

To have an effect on the court's ruling, she said, Little's motion for
reconsideration would have to be granted, and the judge's decision changed.

Little's motion "has nothing to do with the cease-and-desist order, until
and unless the judge does agree to reconsider the decision and change the
decision," Fernald said. "We have a final and binding court order."

If the school continues to violate the court order, the town government
could levy fines of up to $275 per day, and could ask the court to find
Green River in contempt of court.

"That decision will be up to the town," Fernald said.

The Swanzey Planning Board was miffed that the business opened without
seeking approval for its site plan, normally a requirement for every new
business. The flight school argued that its use of a hangar at the airport
was in line with earlier uses, and so didn't trigger a site-plan review.
Further, it contended that federal aviation law override any local
ordinances.

The flight school had been operating since November 1998, but the noise
issue didn't come to a head until last summer. Residents complained that the
flight-school helicopters were so noisy, they couldn't talk on their porches
or open their windows.

Finally, last August, Green River asked the Swanzey Planning Board to
approve its site plan. Largely because of the noise problem, the planning
board rejected it. And, the zoning board concurred with the planning board's
finding that the school was violating land-use laws through excessive noise
and should be shut down.

The two boards asked selectmen to issue a cease-and-desist order, but
selectmen decided to wait until the court case was decided. Now that the
court has spoken, the selectmen have, too.

Many Swanzey residents are also upset with Keene city government.

When it signed an agreement with Green River for using the airport, the city
government stipulated that the company abide by town ordinances. But, the
city did not press Green River to comply with Swanzey's rules.

Now, says Keene Mayor Michael Blastos, the city government is seeking legal
advice before deciding what to do.


   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
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