A Georgia farmer has said a planned airport for corporate and private jets is set to cut through land his family has protected for generations, replacing pasture, woods, and a century-old pecan grove with runway pavement, hangars, and utility lines.
Jeff Melin, whose family has farmed in Spalding County for decades, said the government is using eminent domain — a legal power to claim private land for public use — to take about 225 acres from his 450-acre operation for the proposed 730-acre airport project.
What's happening?
According to AgWeb, county officials plan to build the new Spalding County Airport through the center of Melin's property. Construction is expected to begin in 2026 and finish by 2031.
The plan includes a 6,000-foot runway and 124 hangars designed primarily for corporate and private aircraft rather than commercial passenger service.
"They've killed my farm," Melin said, describing a 90-day order to vacate one of his shops while scrambling to move decades' worth of equipment and reduce the size of his cattle herd.
He also said pecan trees more than a century old have already been removed as work begins near the property, with concrete utility poles now in place for future power lines.
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Melin's family moved from Minnesota to Georgia in 1951 to establish the farm. Over the decades, three generations worked to keep the land intact rather than sell it to subdivision developers.
The airport proposal dates back to 2012, when Melin said he first learned through a newspaper report that his property was being considered as a possible site.
The Georgia Department of Transportation has argued that a new airport could generate an estimated $24 million in annual economic impact for Spalding County.
Melin, however, said the process has felt one-sided from the beginning. Residents never had a meaningful opportunity to reject the proposal and argued that the compensation offered falls well below nearby land values.
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Why is this concerning?
When farmland, forests, and mature trees are replaced with large aviation infrastructure, communities lose more than open space. They also lose food-producing land, wildlife habitat, water-absorbing soil, natural cooling, and flood protection.
Environmental concerns become even sharper when projects are tied to private aviation, which produces significantly more pollution per passenger than most forms of transportation.
There is also a growing concern about trust. Melin said his family repeatedly turned down opportunities to sell the farm for housing developments in order to preserve it. In his view, that stewardship ultimately made the land more attractive for seizure because it remained open and undeveloped.
What's being done about this?
Advocates have called for stronger farmland-protection programs, clearer public-input requirements, and tighter limits on eminent domain for projects with narrow benefits.
For Melin, though, those conversations may come too late to save the farm he said is already being dismantled.
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