If You Don’t Like Airplanes, Maybe You Shouldn’t Buy A House On An Airport

The Village of Wellington, Florida website quotes Money Magazine saying they were named one of the top 100 best places to live in 2010. By looking at the website it’s hard to dispute the possibility that this may be true.

But wait, there’s more! Located within the village area is a development known as the Aero Club. This development surrounds a 4,000 foot paved runway (FD38) that sits in the middle of about 250 beautiful homes. While the entire development is based on those that are friendly to aviation, not all homeowners actively participate in the aviation end of the development.

It’s a beautiful place with a wonderful aviation community but, apparently, not everyone is happy. According to an article in the Palm Beach Post newspaper, relationships between the Village of Wellington and the Aero Club development got a little tense when the development paved the runway about 2 years ago. It appears there was some concern that a paved runway could lead to more noise, disruption, and jet traffic. A committee was formed by village officials to “regulate” the privately owned airport.

While nothing came of the proposed “regulations,” the issue has come up again. According to the Palm Beach Post article, village councilman Matt Willhite bought a single-family home on an acre of land within the Aero club development and has now brought up the issue of regulating the airport once again.

The article quoted Ken Kopp, a resident of the Aero Club development as saying, “This is initiated by one councilman because he’s moving in and doesn’t like airplane noise.” Aero Club Property Owners Association president John Herring said, “We’re preparing and doing what we need to do to protect our rights and protect our property values.” It appears the village has already paid consulting fees of $68,000 in its efforts to regulate the airport. Herring added, “This is a waste of taxpayer’s money and a waste of staff time.”

It seems like common sense would dictate: if you don’t like the ocean, don’t move near the ocean; if you don’t like the smell of horse manure, don’t buy a horse; and if you don’t like airports, don’t buy a house near an airport. But then, of course, what’s common sense got to do with this situation.

FMI: www.wellingtonaeroclub.com, www.wellingtonfl.gov