Firm Seeks To Hangar More Jets At Airport

The expansion plans of the Hernando County Airport to accommodate a jet management firm already operating there soared through the planning and zoning commission Monday.

The commission unanimously approved a request to rezone 11 acres of existing airport land to build two 21,000-square-foot, single-story hangars and a 4,000-square-foot, single-story office building.

The airport will lease the facilities to Brooksville Air Center. The firm maintains and provides pilots for privately-owned jets and is currently leasing space at the airport under the name Flight Services, Airport Director Don Silvernell said.

The company would change its name after the move to the new hangar and office, Silvernell said.

Flight Services already keeps four or five jets at the airport and would bring another five or six from Texas to Hernando County and store in the new hangars, Silvernell told the planning board Monday.

The company would pay for the road, water and sewer infrastructure for the site and the county would give the company a discount on its lease, Silvernell said. The paving of Technology Drive, near the intersection of Corporate Boulevard and Aerial Way would also open up additional lots for development in the western section of the airport, Silvernell said.

Construction on the project could begin as early next month pending approval of the county commission.

In other action, the board approved:

• A rezoning request from Ted and Lisa Kessell to allow them to sell fruits and vegetables grown on their Masaryktown farm. The Kessells grow produce including four acres of corn at their Sweetfield Farms on Benes Roush Road. The public would probably be able to pick some themselves, Ted Kessell told the planning board.

• A rezoning request by RaceTrac to build a 5,000-square-foot convenience store and filling station on nearly four acres on the northwest corner of State Road 50 and Fort Dade Avenue.

• A special exception permit to allow a Spring Hill woman to teach swimming lessons for infants in the pool behind her home on Blytheville Road, east of Hanford Avenue.