The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors approved a special use permit for a private airstrip on property bordering Jericho Road at the Jan. 8 board meeting. The property is owned by District Four Supervisor Morgan Dunnavant, and his application concerned a special use permit for a 170-acre parcel on Jericho Road in the Maysville Magisterial District.

The property is zoned Agricultural 1, according to the application.

At the Jan. 8 meeting Dunnavant said he’s required by the Virginia Department of Aviation to carry liability on the airplane.

Members of the planning commission held a public hearing Nov. 20 regarding the airstrip. One member of the public spoke in favor of the airstrip, while one member of the public expressed concern about fuel usage.

According to comments provided in the meeting board packet, District Five resident Carl Williams expressed support for the airstrip and said fueling the aircraft would pose no greater risk than fueling other vehicles.

“The kind of airplanes he’s landing he’s in a grass strip; it’s no different than landing in a hayfield. It’s not a commercial airport,” Williams said. “It’s just an airstrip to keep a private airplane, … and I mean, to me, fueling is no different than putting fuel in your tractor.”

“As far as the fueling question, I have no intention of operating a fueling station,” Dunnavant said. “The total quantity of fuel the aircraft I have holds is 40 gallons in the main tanks. You add that to the auxiliary tanks, it can hold almost 70 gallons. I generally try to keep it as light as possible. So coming in and out of grass fields, I try to be 15-16 gallons, otherwise it takes an awful long ways to get off the ground. Any other concerns you know as far as noise, it’s nowhere as noisy as the tractor-trailers on the road and these young boys with them four-wheel drive trucks and big old gumbo monster tires.”

Commission Chairman Alice Gormus asked whether Dunnavant’s aircraft would be the only vehicle on the airstrip.

“And you would be the only one that would be flying in and out of there unless it was some extreme emergency,” Gormus said.

“Just personal use like your driveway at your house,” Dunnavant said. “You use it, and your invited guests use it.”