Because they'd rather fly their radio-controlled model airplanes and helicopters than fight with residents of the Heritage Hollow neighborhood, the members of the Jefferson City Radio-Control Flying Club voted unanimously Wednesday night to spend up to $3,000 to comply with a list of demands presented them last week by the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Commission.
The action will resolve a dispute between the club's pilots and homeowners in the Heritage Hollow Subdivision which abuts the flying field at Joseph C. Miller Park. Parks grounded the hobbyists' RC aircraft in late October after more than 15 homeowners testified before the commission. The two sides of the controversy have been fussing since May, with each complaining about alleged harassment from the other. Each party enlisted legal counsel, heightening the confrontation, with the homeowners retaining Rep. Jay Barnes and the pilots receiving pro bono guidance from Anthony L. DeWitt.
"We want to continue flying on that field as long as we can, we don't want to do anything to cause that to end," club spokesman Dr. James Crago said Wednesday.
"We're not looking for trouble," he added after the meeting of about a dozen of the 25 members of the decades-old club.
The linchpin of the agreement is a commitment to pay for approximately $3,000 in costs associated with changes to the hobbyists' airfield at Miller Park, which has been used by the club for more than 35 years. The field is city-owned and available to any RC-controlled pilot who holds a valid permit issued by the Parks. "That is not our field," Crago said, "it's open to any pilot with a license."
Crago met with Parks Executive Director Todd Spalding last week and was briefed on the proposed Parks Commission agreement, to which the RC club agreed Wednesday. Elements of the agreement include:
- Erecting a shelter at least 500 feet from the nearest residential property line with expenses to be paid by the RC Club.
- Removal of the extended flying area.
- Creation of a log-in/log-out sheet for licensed and city-permitted pilots.
- Installation of a post and cable fence by Parks limiting vehicular access to the park.
- Adoption of a 9 a.m. to sunset schedule for flying at the field.
- Notification of all homeowners in the Heritage Hollow subdivision of Federal Aviation Administration complaint procedures and penalties for pilots.
Crago said the club met Wednesday to meet Parks' request. "They will do the work but wanted to do it now so we can be back up and flying this fall," he said. Club members met behind closed doors for 30 minutes before opening their meeting to the media and passing the motion to agree with the Parks' ruling.
"Ideally, we would like to have someone come forward and offer us a long-term arrangement on a suitable flying field of five to 10 acres somewhere else, away from where we are now," Crago said. "We would like to be encouraging new members and young members, but it's difficult to do when we have to fight back against bad PR."
Before adjourning, the club elected new officers, including President Jason Schroeder, Vice President John Dussold, Secretary Greg Hug and Treasurer Stacey Gilmore.