Attracting Aviation Businesses -- How?

Jay, you could always do what I did. Run for your city/county board
(whichever
the airport is located in) and then YOU get to make the rules on how the
airport
is run. Be forewarned that it may cost you an airplane, a business, and a
wife.
My two terms of office did.

Ouch.

In a failed attempt to make the airport more self-sufficient, our airport
commission has carved out a piece of land along the northern boundary of the
airport and called it a "commercial zone". It is right next to our hotel,
and we would LOVE to see some aviation related businesses locate there.
(There are a dozen or so parcels available.)

Current problem: There is no access from the airport to this strip of
businesses. The solution is to install a simple gate in the fence, and when
they close RWY 18/36 in a year or two this strip of concrete will be a good
taxi-way right up to the fence.

They *were* trying to lease this land, but got no takers -- so now they're
trying to sell it. We live in fear that they will sell to some auto salvage
yard (or worse), so it's truly in my best interest to figure out how to make
my dream of turning IOW into a one-stop-shopping destination come true.

As for running for office, I do believe my wife would kill me. Not because
she isn't all for the concept, but because she's already carrying more of
the load than she should during these "start-up" years...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Unless Iowa runs by different rules, your airport commission is appointed by the
county board of commissioners. THAT is the place to apply pressure. I'd ask
for a rezone on that carved out parcel that is tied to a conditional use permit
process. That way everybody gets a say in what goes in.

Jim



"Jay Honeck"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-Ouch.
-
-In a failed attempt to make the airport more self-sufficient, our airport
-commission has carved out a piece of land
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Unless Iowa runs by different rules, your airport commission is appointed
by the
county board of commissioners. THAT is the place to apply pressure. I'd
ask
for a rezone on that carved out parcel that is tied to a conditional use
permit
process. That way everybody gets a say in what goes in.

Close. They're appointed by the City Council. (The county wants NOTHING to
do with the airport, which bugs the crap out of me. Probably 50% of the
guys who base planes at Iowa City don't live inside the city limits, and
therefore have NO say in who or what happens there.)

Good idea on re-zoning, though. To be honest, I'm not sure what it IS zoned
now.

Time. I need, like, 30 hours in each day...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jim Weir wrote:
Unless Iowa runs by different rules, your airport commission is appointed by the
county board of commissioners. THAT is the place to apply pressure. I'd ask
for a rezone on that carved out parcel that is tied to a conditional use permit
process. That way everybody gets a say in what goes in.

The FAA has an Advisory Circular on Compatible Land Use.
Getting Zoning Codes changed MAY take quite a bit of time, depending on
the bureaucracy you are dealing with.
In Columbus Ohio, it took us six years to implement Airport Environs
Overlay Zoning Ordinances from inception to legislation passage. This
deals primarily with residential construction and remodeling on land
underlying and within the 65 ldn noise contours (see your Part 151 Noise
Study for your airport, these should be updated every five years). Also,
have you obtained a copy of your Airport Master Plan? This lays out the
5-, 10-, 20-year goals for airport improvements.
Does your state have an Aviation Department? What services do they
provide? They should be administering the Federal funds they receive as
part of the federal AIR-21 legislation.
Each state has its own program, many provide runway and taxiway overlay
project grants to general aviation airports. Feds pay 90%, state pays
5%, local government pays 5%. If you are paying a fuel tax to the state,
an excise tax on aircraft parts, aircraft registration, you should be
getting something back in the form of services listed above.

Jay,

The situation you describe (as well as Jim) is apparently VERY common.
In fact, it would seem that mid-size municipally owned airports almost
never operate without subsidies and grants. I've been researching the
same issues, recently, as it applies to my own airport in Ocean City. Most
would never be able to do large scale improvements like runway re-paving,
etc. without being involved in the FAA's Airport Improvement Program
(AIP). I even went to a one-day conference of Maryland airport managers,
so that I could listen to the topics involved. From my research, it would
seem that most of the opinions on this newsgroup are fairly one-sided
relative to all the issues involved. You might want to do some Googling
on the following topics:

Airport Management
Airport Improvement Program
Through the Fence Operations

It would appear that it's a farely rare situation that a mid-size
municipal airport can bring in enough business to operate in the black.
Forward thinking municipalities probably consider the loss incurred
supporting the airport as an investment in the greater good of the city,
but I suspect that it's very difficult to convince a city council, or city
manager, of this.

-- Jay

__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino/ ! ! !

Checkout http://www.oc-adolfos.com/
for the best Italian food in Ocean City, MD and...
Checkout http://www.brolow.com/ for authentic Blues music on Delmarva

Jay Masino wrote:
Through the Fence Operations

Not there is a VERY delicate topic. Unless you are dealing with total
morons, you have less than a snowball' chance in Hell of getting
something like that through a municipally owned facility. Remember, they
are looking for as much money as they can get. If it isn't going to
generate revenue, you aren't likely to get it.

john smith wrote:
Jay Masino wrote:
Through the Fence Operations

Not there is a VERY delicate topic. Unless you are dealing with total
morons, you have less than a snowball' chance in Hell of getting
something like that through a municipally owned facility. Remember, they
are looking for as much money as they can get. If it isn't going to
generate revenue, you aren't likely to get it.

From what I understand, there are some municipal airports that allow it,
but they charge a fee to the Through the Fence operator. Some do it as a
monthly fee, some do it every time the operator taxies onto the airport
(using a card key and electric gate setup).

-- Jay
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino/ ! ! !

Checkout http://www.oc-adolfos.com/
for the best Italian food in Ocean City, MD and...
Checkout http://www.brolow.com/ for authentic Blues music on Delmarva

"Jay Masino" wrote in message ...


From what I understand, there are some municipal airports that allow it,
but they charge a fee to the Through the Fence operator. Some do it as a
monthly fee, some do it every time the operator taxies onto the airport
(using a card key and electric gate setup).

I know when they were getting ready to develop land uphill from the airport
at VKX, those with property immedately ajoining the field (oddly zoned for
a large "accessory structure" on the rear property line) were going to be
assesed a fee to allow you to taxi from your property out onto the field.

"Jay Masino" wrote in
In fact, it would seem that mid-size municipally owned airports almost
never operate without subsidies and grants.

Nor do the streets, nor do the ditches, nor does the municipal boat launch,
nor does the park, nor does the mosquito commission, nor do the traffic
lights, nor does the water department... In fact there is not a single
governmental service that does not require the tax payers to support it, and
usually the commissioners are beating the drum for more money to put into
these services... Only when it involves the public airport does it suddenly
become an unnecessary service...

I have publically confronted some of our county commissioners (politely) who
object to the airport and as soon as I point out the illogic in their
position I get:
"Well, ummm errr, you don't understand. The parks are a line item in the
budget and the airport is an additional expense that we have to take money
from some other service to cover."
"So, make the airport a line item in the budget!"
"Oh, we couldn't do that."

I've generally found that when a public utility such as an airport is
criticized as unprofitable, the public officials usually have another
use in mind for that land. I hate to be pessimistic, but most times
its a foregone conclusion that the airport is a goner.