News

Airpark's proximity to airport irks FAA - Statesman Journal  - December 17, 2009

Safety concerns could lead to a loss of grant money for facility in Independence

By Justin Much 

INDEPENDENCE — For more than 30 years, the airpark here has been adjacent to the Independence State Airport, thriving without so much as a peep of a problem. Now a problem is on the radar, and it has less to do with the airport or airpark than it does with the Federal Aviation Administration.  Recent FAA documents have made it clear that the agency is opposed to airparks with "through-the-fence" access at publicly funded airports.

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EEA Radio Report: Some Residential Airport Access Banned - November 20, 2009

New Organization Fights FAA’s Hangar Home Directive - November 7, 2009

A new organization, ThoughTheFence.org (TTF), used the AOPA  Summit to announce its formation on Thursday.  The organization has been formed by pilots to fight the FAA’s prohibition of hangar homes at publically funded airports.

“The FAA’s Airport Compliance Manual (ACM), dated September 30, 2009, clearly labels all hangar homes as incompatible adjacent airport land use” stated Brent Blue, one of the organizers of TTF. “The FAA’s reasoning is based on noise” and the noise complaints are based on antidotal information.  “They do not have any data” stated Blue who is submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to secure any data, or lack thereof, the FAA has.  “This stealth directive was released two months after Babbitt stated at EAA AirVenture that these situations would be evaluated on an individual basis and now they come out with a wholesale directive” Blue emphasized.

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Orcas Island  Letter to the Editor, October 28, 2009

FAA vs. the Port
About 40 or 50 years ago, a chap by name of "Cap Ferris" donated a large tract of land to our airport with the stipulation that he and his heirs or assigns be allowed airport use rights in perpetuity. Since that time the parcels have changed hands a few times leaving the use rights in force. The so-called "through the fence" owners are still rightful users of this package. Without Cap's largess we would not have the land or the fine airport we have today.

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