BY JONAS BEALS

Planes do not land at Hartwood Airport in Stafford County these days. The runway looks more like a roadway now, and a toll booth sits on the former taxiway.

The private airport, which opened in 1969, was once a base for skydivers.

It is now a "test lane" facility operated by Unisys Corp. and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. It is home to a simulated international border crossing where technology akin to an E-ZPass is being evaluated for use at border crossings.

The facility just happens to straddle something of a border--the line between Fauquier and Stafford counties off Cropp Road--and has been operating on the Fauquier side for three years. Unisys plans to expand its operation into Stafford.

The property is zoned for agricultural use in Stafford, which did not allow this sort of use by right or by conditional-use permit.

In a joint public hearing last Tuesday night, the Stafford Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a zoning ordinance text amendment and a conditional-use permit so Customs and Border Protection can expand the test-lane facility at the airport.

Hartwood District Supervisor Gary Snellings said that the permit was written narrowly to allow only this particular use.

Fauquier officials passed a similar permit in February for the expansion. Unisys would like to begin construction immediately, so the permit process was expedited in both counties.

Stafford staff recommended approval of the conditional-use permit. Planning and Zoning Administrator Jeff Harvey said the new use will likely be less intensive than the airport was.

According to documents provided to the county, the site is designed as a full-scale mock-up of a Mexico-U.S. border crossing and is part of an effort to combat drug trafficking in the Southwest.

"It's very low-key," Snellings said. "It's been there for three years and I've never heard anyone complain about it."

The county permit does allow additional construction at the site, although that also will be limited.

In the past, the testing there simulated vehicles entering the United States. The expanded facility also will test systems for vehicles leaving the country. Unisys plans to construct a gantry similar to the trusses that hold large signs over highways.

There is no permanent office on the site, and officials foresee using the facility between five and eight days per month, mostly during daylight hours.

"You think Homeland Security--that it's kind of a big deal," Snellings said, "but there's really nothing there. It's not that exciting."

Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com