BEAVER TOWNSHIP Airport owner gets OK for MedEvac

The owner's original permit did not allow the MedEvac operation.
THE VINDICATOR
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA -- The Beaver Township Board of Zoning Appeals has amended a conditional-use permit held by the owner of Youngstown Elser Metro Airport so he can continue allowing a STAT MedEvac team to operate from an airport hangar.
The zoning appeals board, at a public hearing Tuesday, expanded Michael E. Stanko's conditional-use permit that allows crew facilities for the emergency helicopter team to continue in a modular home inside the hangar.
The board, however, required Stanko to disassemble the modular structure if at any time the MedEvac team moves from the site. He also must immediately notify the township zoning inspector of those circumstances. Stanko also must continue to meet all county health and sanitary regulations.
Last month, Stanko asked the board to amend his permit after the board upheld the township zoning inspector's decision to cite him for allowing the MedEvac team to operate from the airport.
Not allowed in permit
At that time, the board found that the conditional-use permit issued to Stanko in 1991 does not allow for the operation of the MedEvac business, which provides medical helicopter services.
Further, the board determined the site was permitted to operate as a general aviation airport, which allowed for Stanko to have aircraft storage areas, limited runways and maintenance buildings.
Board members said they did not want to see the team removed from the site and encouraged Stanko to ask the township to amend his permit to include the legal operation of the business. Earlier this year, Michele L. Swope, township zoning inspector, cited Stanko after she learned the medical emergency team was working from the modular home. Swope said that cannot be done legally without a building permit.
Stanko appealed Swope's decision.
The local MedEvac site provides flight services to St. Elizabeth Health Center's Regional Trauma Center in Youngstown, typically servicing an area that covers a 50-mile radius. The site employs 11 full-time staff members -- four nurses, three paramedics and four pilots. There are also two part-time nurses.
On Tuesday, Stanko said the team has responded to more than 400 medical emergencies since it began operating at the airport in mid-January.