A 900-foot grass landing strip on a 130-acre Lincoln, Vermont estate has turned neighbor against neighbor, cost one opponent an estimated $300,000, and triggered no-trespass orders against 23 people. The strip belongs to Kyle and Katie Clark, who want to fly small gas-powered planes from their property, and the fight over it has now reached the Vermont Supreme Court.
The Boston Globe describes Beta Technologies, the electric aviation company Kyle Clark founded in 2017, as a prominent high-tech company. Clark is its chief executive. Beta develops electric aircraft. The Globe reports the dispute has divided neighbors in the 1,300-person town for nearly five years, while VTDigger described it as four years of opposition from Lincoln residents concerned about aesthetics, noise and safety.
The Vermont Transportation Board approved the airstrip in October 2026, with VTDigger reporting the approval was dated October 8. Opponents did not let it stand. On October 19, they appealed the board's ruling to the Vermont Supreme Court, the Globe reports, and per the same account, VTDigger reports they also asked a federal circuit court to review the Federal Aviation Administration's July 28 denial of their earlier appeal. The FAA's June 2025 determination had found the airstrip safe to operate so long as Clark follows the agency's specified conditions, including daytime private use, the outlet reported.
A Years-Long Path Through Town Boards and Courts
Clark first requested an airstrip permit in March 2022, not long after he and Katie Clark bought their Lincoln property in late 2021. Lincoln's zoning board of adjustment denied the application after public hearings that year, and the following year the town's development review board also voted against the proposal, according to VTDigger's earlier reporting. Two town boards in all rejected Clark's airstrip applications before the matter moved to state and federal review.
A state court judge later ruled that Lincoln could not prohibit the airstrip because the town had not explicitly limited airstrips in its regulations, and separately found that federal law preempted town-level consideration of noise and safety issues, per the dossier's sourcing. That same court limited airstrip takeoffs and landings to two per day. The airstrip itself is already built, even as VTDigger reported in October that it remained not yet operational because Clark still needs a Certificate of Operation from the Transportation Board.
Legal Fees, No-Trespass Orders and a $300,000 Opposition Effort
The fight has gotten personal and expensive. The Clarks issued no-trespass orders to 23 neighbors, including airstrip opponents, the Globe reports, and their lawyers threatened in a September letter to sue the town over alleged due-process violations.
Marilyn Ganahl, a leading opponent, estimates she has spent about $300,000 largely funding the opposition, according to the Globe. Lincoln resident Ruth Hardy told the outlet that money's role in the dispute had been challenging and unfortunate.
Beyond the Runway: A Town Already Reshaped
The Lincoln general store sold for $300,000 in January 2024, with support from the Davises; the total investment was undisclosed. Per the Globe, the store has served Lincoln since 1843 and now includes a creemee stand selling Vermont soft-serve ice cream. The Globe also reports that in January, Clark spent $14 million on a separate Lake Champlain property in the town of Charlotte that already has a permitted airstrip, and that he currently drives 45 minutes from Lincoln to Charlotte to fly to work.
The town itself sits about 1,200 feet above sea level, and Lincoln Gap Road closes from mid-October to May.
A Statewide Pattern of Airstrip Fights
Lincoln's clash is not happening in isolation. A 2022 report from Seven Days found that applications for private airstrips and helipads had been rising across Vermont in recent years, and noted that Lincoln was already home to two private airstrips even before Clark's proposal, with more than 60 private airstrips in use statewide. That same report described Clark's initial application as covering a 1,500-by-60-foot field for private takeoffs and landings, a dimension that differs from the Globe's description of the built strip as 900 feet long.
Whether the Vermont Supreme Court appeal or the federal court's review of the FAA's denial will resolve the fight remains to be seen, as neither outcome had been reported as of the Globe's latest account.
