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The battle for Arlington Airport begins?
On one side of the ring: Arlington Municipal and it's associated
community:..For those of you unfamiliar with Arlington Municipal Airport in Washington state, it is home of the third largest fly-in in the country (run by the EAA) and the center of general aviation and experimental aircraft in the state of Washington and, arguably, the Pacific Northwest. On the other side of the ring: Nascar, International Speedway Corp, and associated county, state and city political leaders. They are seeking to install a large 30,000+ seat racetrack within 45 minutes of the Seattle area. Snohomish county and the two adjacent cities near the airport are recommending 3 sites, all roughly within 2 miles of the airport. There are only 2 or 3 counties which meet the base location criteria, so our local locations don't have a lot of competition. The associated TFRs that come part and parcel with such a facility would shut down Arlington for any motor sports event and probably for any other use due to seating capacity. You can be sure "other" events will be frequent so ISC can recoup their investment in the facility. I don't have data to back any of this up right now, but during the intial salvos of this conflict at an airport commision meeting tonight, someone mentioned an airport in the Arizona area that is shut down almost 200 days a year due to a large venue near it. Even IFR traffic is at the whim of the operating agency which can choose to disallow overflight. Nascar and the ISC probably will not find much concern over any of this as their pilots and aircraft get waivers for any of their events while we would be stuck watching them fly from the ground. We all know the FAA has no authority over the airpsace anymore, TSA and Homeland security run the show and don't answer to anyone. Should another terrorist event occur, related to GA or otherwise, all bets are off on what would happen around such facilities. They make the rules as they go and once the facility is present, it is there to stay with any associated restrictions, current or yet to exist. The city and county can't be expected to support the airport, the new track is a political feather in their cap and money in the government coffers. Unfortunately, I can't say I don't see their side of the equation either. It's just too bad they can't site it elsewhere. My hope is that this fight becomes an exception to the sad disintegration of GA like those poor airports on the east coast and Megis. AOPA and the EAA are supposedly working the problem, but I must say this first public forum has left me with a very sour feeling in my stomach. My hope is that others read this and look at the issue and maybe someday, somewhere, someone who has real influence over these decisions will realize the load they are being fed by the cities and county and that they really DON'T have the local public support for such a facility and the crippling impact it would have on our airport. I believe Nascar said they would not site a facility where it is not wanted during deliberations with the state legislature. It remains to be seen if that is truly the case and whether they meant it was wanted by the local populace or by the local government. If nothing else, wish us luck, we're going to need it... Paul Adriance |
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