Sec. 241.003. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Airport" means an area of land or water, publicly or privately owned, designed and set aside for the landing and taking off of aircraft and used or to be used in the interest of the public for that purpose. The term includes an area with installations relating to flights, including installations, facilities, and bases of operations for tracking flights or acquiring data concerning flights.

(2) "Airport hazard" means a structure or object of natural growth that obstructs the air space required for the taking off, landing, and flight of aircraft or that interferes with visual, radar, radio, or other systems for tracking, acquiring data relating to, monitoring, or controlling aircraft.

(3) "Airport hazard area" means an area of land or water on which an airport hazard could exist.

(4) "Airport zoning regulation" means an airport hazard area zoning regulation and an airport compatible land use zoning regulation adopted under this chapter.

(5) "Centerline" means a line extending through the midpoint of each end of a runway.

(6) "Compatible land use" means a use of land adjacent to an airport that does not endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the owners, occupants, or users of the land because of levels of noise or vibrations or the risk of personal injury or property damage created by the operations of the airport, including the taking off and landing of aircraft.

(7) "Controlled compatible land use area" means an area of land located outside airport boundaries and within a rectangle bounded by lines located no farther than 1-1/2 statute miles from the centerline of an instrument or primary runway and lines located no farther than five statute miles from each end of the paved surface of an instrument or primary runway.

(8) "Instrument runway" means an existing or planned runway of at least 3,200 feet for which an instrument landing procedure published by a defense agency of the federal government or the Federal Aviation Administration exists or is planned.

(9) "Obstruction" means a structure, growth, or other object, including a mobile object, that exceeds a limiting height established by federal regulations or by an airport hazard area zoning regulation.

(10) "Political subdivision" means a municipality or county.

(11) "Primary runway" means an existing or planned paved runway, as shown in the official airport layout plan (ALP) of the airport, of at least 3,200 feet on which a majority of the approaches to and departures from the airport occur.

(12) "Runway" means a defined area of an airport prepared for the landing and taking off of aircraft along its length.

(13) "Structure" means an object constructed or installed by one or more persons and includes a building, tower, smokestack, and overhead transmission line.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.