The Seven Lakes Aeromodelers Club can breathe a sigh of relief, after a decision by Moore County’s Board of Adjustment that allows them to continue flying their radio-controlled model airplanes over a 60-acre pasture near the intersection of NC Highway 73 and Beulah Hill Church Road.
Still, though that battle is won, the war may not be over.
The next engagement is likely to be in Moore County Superior Court. And it may all come down to the meaning of the word “club.”
The Complaint
The Board of Adjustment met on Wednesday, July 27 to consider a request by Samuel A. Blackwell, III, and Elizabeth Blackwell of Raleigh, who own an adjacent ten acre property, to overturn a zoning permit, authorized by Planning Director Joey Raczkowski, that allows the Aeromodelers to fly their planes from a parcel leased from T. Clyde Auman Farms.
The Club leases property just to the west of the Blackwell’s tract, as well as rights to fly over a larger pasture.
The Blackwells acquired their adjacent tract in January 2010, and filed a complaint concerning the Aeromodelers with the Moore County Planning Department in November of last year.
Planners determined that the Aeromodelers needed a zoning permit to fly their planes from the Auman property, but also initially used the complaint as an opportunity to add a new land use — “outdoor recreation” — to the Zoning Ordinance. When that ran into complications at the Planning Board level, Planning staff asked the Aeromodelers to submit an application for a Zoning Permit and a commercial site plan, which Planning Director Joey Raczkowski, ultimately approved.
The Blackwells appealed that approval, arguing that Raczkowksi had wrongly interpreted the zoning ordinance and had failed to stop the Aeromodelers from flying, once it was clear they needed a zoning permit to do so.
What’s a Club?
The crux of Attorney Yarborough’s argument before The Board of Adjustment — a five-member panel, appointed by the county’s Board of Commissioners that meets as needed to consider appeals like the Blackwells — was that the Aeromodelers Club isn’t a “club,” at least as “Club” is defined in the Moore County Zoning Ordinance.
The Zoning Ordinance, Yarborough pointed out, describes a “Club or Lodge (Private, Nonprofit, Civic, or Fraternal)” which is defined as “A nonprofit association of persons, who are bona fide members paying dues, which owns, hires, or leases a building, or portion thereof, the use of such premises being restricted to members and their guests.”
Clearly, the Attorney argued, what the ordinance has in mind is something like an Elks’ Club or a Masonic Lodge — a club that has a building, in which it holds meetings, perhaps even serves food and drink, and conducts its affairs indoors.
Though the Aeromodelers plan to place a prefab metal storage building on the property they lease, he said, that building is intended for storage, not as a meeting place, and will have neither water nor septic.
Yarborough noted that Planner Robert Farrell, asked about the Ordinance’s definition of “Club” during one Planning Board meeting, had in fact replied that it was and activity like an Elk’s Club or Masonic Lodge.
If a model airplane group, with its primary activity out of doors and only a storage shed is a “club,” Yarborough argued, then a group of teenagers could form a go-kart “club” and be authorized to race their machines in a residential area. There could even be a Moore County Pyrotechnics Club, he said.
“This definition of club is straining to the point of breaking,” Yarborough said. “If this standard of ‘club,’ as Mr. R. says, is something he determines on a case by case basis — to continue an illegal activity — and is the way the Zoning Ordinance is interpreted in Moore County, then you might as well throw it out the window.”
Planning Director Raczkowski responded by taking the Board of Adjustment deeper into the language of the Zoning Ordinance, where the definition of “building” says nothing about water and septic service, and includes “tents, lunch wagons, dining cars, trailers, mobile homes, and attached or unattached carports.”
That definition of building ultimately seemed to tip the balance with the Board of Adjustment. Board member Penny Johnson cited it in questioning and member Kathy Liles mentioned it in explaining her vote
“By the reading of the definition, it does substantiate the use,” Liles said. “I wouldn’t say every activity is going to be the most preferred use, but because they are a club, the Planning Director made a reasonable determination.”
Enforcement strategy
Yarborough also argued that the Aeromodelers should have been shut down as soon as the Planning Department realized they were in violation of the Zoning Ordinance.
But Raczkowski explained that the only violation was the lack of a permit. Even more importantly, the Ordinance instructs staff to attempt to remedy violations “through informal means.” Raczkowski explained that the strategy of Moore County’s Planning Department is to attempt to work with the parties involved to resolve an issue — which was what they did with the Blackwells and the Aeromodelers Club.
Deputy County Attorney Brenda White told the Board that the Planning Department “gave the complaint every consideration and worked diligently to examine the site and the activity.”
Noise, Safety Issues
The Blackwells submitted a packet of information that included information on the noise and safety issues raised by the operation of radio-controlled model airplanes — and showed the Board a video of a particularly noisy plane — those concerns were not much discussed during the hearing.
Board Member Liles noted that “If the issue at hand is noise, then that’s not part of the ordinance.”
Decision, Next steps
The five members of the Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to uphold the granting of the Zoning permit; it would have required a fout-fifths vote to overturn it.
After the decision was announced. Attorney Yarborough told The Times that his client “most definitely” would be appealing the Board of Adjustment’s decision to the Superior Court.
“We’ll be going to the next level,” Andrew Blackwell added.
In the meantime, the Seven Lakes Aeromodelers have a valid zoning permit and can continue to fly their planes on the Auman property.
