Agency Says Potentially 312-Foot Tall Structure Is A 'Presumed Hazard' To Air Traffic

Developers planning to build a skyscraper in Fargo, ND will have to convince the Fargo City Council that the building is not a hazard to air traffic.

The building is planned to be a mixed-use tower in downtown Fargo that initial drawings provided to the FAA showed to be 312 feet tall. However, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reports that the FAA recently notified developer The Kilbourne Group that the building in that location would be a "presumed hazard" to air traffic.

“In other words, initial study on it indicated that it would be a hazard to navigation for the airport,” said Brian Schuck with the FAA's Bismarck Airports District Office. “That doesn’t mean it is (a hazard). It means it needs further work.”

The developer says the building is still in the very early stages of planning, and that the final design would be under 300 feet tall. And, Kilborune Group General Manager Mike Allmendinger said that the FAA can't prevent the building from being constructed. He said that the city would take the "presumed hazard" designation into consideration when it made its zoning decision for the project.

The FAA said that any building over 52 feet is a "potential hazard," but Almendinger said that there are many buildings in Fargo over that height. "I don't want to say it's a non-issue, but there's a process to go through," he told the paper.

FMI: www.faa.gov