I can’t help but wonder from time to time if general aviation in general, and general aviation airports specifically, will ever not be viewed as the colloquial red-headed stepchild?
The definition of the term is “a person or thing that is neglected, unwanted, or mistreated.”
In some communities — not all mind you — “red-headed stepchild” really seems apropos. Airports are oftentimes neglected by their owners, unwanted by neighbors, and you have to look no further than Chicago’s Meigs Field to see mistreatment.
Two airport news stories found their way to my inbox late last month.
The first relates to Reid-Hillview Airport (KRHV) in San Jose, California, which was founded in 1937. But on Nov. 17, 2020, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, which owns KRHV, voted to no longer accept new FAA grant funding. Current obligations require the airport to remain open through 2031.
In the meantime, the county is getting its proverbial ducks in a row.
According to a San José Spotlight story, “The supervisors voted 4-1 to begin preparing for a potential airport closure and begin the planning process for repurposing the land. Next steps would include more community discussion to identify how to develop the land.”
That vote came “after hundreds of pleas from the community to use the land for affordable housing and other community needs.”
The airport sits on 180 valuable acres.
In 1940, the population of San José was 68,457. Today, the city is the third most populous in California with an estimated 1,021,795 residents as of 2019.
Using Google Maps, it is easy to see there are not many open areas in the nearly 180 square mile city.
As the population expands, those residents must live (hopefully) in a home of some sort. Housing advocates, likely with little understanding of the bigger picture that is aviation, see a lot of space on which the airport sits, and likely see a solution to their problem.
As I’ve watched the value of my home in Washington state grow dramatically, I can’t help but think the demand vs. supply curve is a tad out of whack. All those folks who work at lower wage jobs need to live somewhere while they grow their skills for higher-wage careers. If housing supply doesn’t meet demand, the likely result will be inflated housing prices.
Don’t misunderstand, I’m not advocating for the closure of Reid-Hillview. Far from it. I’m trying to understand the larger issues. In this case, as seen from the perspective of housing advocates, the airport sits on valuable land that they no doubt feel could be put “to better use.”
I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I’m smart enough to admit when I lack understanding. If (or when) Reid-Hillview is closed and redeveloped and the city population continues to expand, where will the next affordable housing project go? Surely Interstates 280, 680, or 880 that slice through the city have more acreage than KRHV. Would housing advocates call for their closure and redevelopment? Not likely.
On the other side of the country in West Virginia is the bucolic 2,300-foot turf-topped Robert Newlon Field (I41) near Huntington. Located next to the Ohio River, the airport boasts “the only restaurant in the Huntington Tri-State area you can drive, fly, or boat to.” That would be The Fly In Cafe.
The Fly In Cafe is owned by Carl Bailey, who is also the airport’s manager. The title of airport manager dates to 2006 when he signed a 30-year lease agreement with the airport authority.
According to a Herald-Dispatch story, “Tuesday morning [Nov. 24, 2020], the Cabell County Commission was to vote on a resolution to dissolve the Cabell County Airport Authority. The resolution stated the airport authority was granted power to enter contracts relative to the airport, but was not given specific authority to bind the commission to any contract.”
That vote was ultimately tabled until Feb. 11, 2021, after many airport supporters showed up at the commission meeting wanting to know why the commission was seeking to make this change.
A WOWK story reports that commissioners state not much would change at the airport if the airport authority is dissolved. If not much will change, why change it at all?
Interestingly, if the airport authority is dissolved by the commission, the current lease reverts to the commission, which can’t lease to an individual. So that 30-year lease, which is nearly halfway to expiration, would have to be brought to commission standards or be relinquished by Bailey.
If I were Bailey, I’d be pretty upset at the situation.
I hope further reporting will expose the true reason the commission is seeking to dissolve the airport authority. This situation has a feel of mistreatment to me.
These two airports remind me that we — aviators and users of airports — are part of a larger economic ecosystem. It is not enough for us to say, “we were here first” or “it’s not our fault you don’t understand the value of an airport.” We are part of our communities and should do our best to be part of the bigger solutions, not only seek to preserve our precious airports.
By working together while seeking to understand, perhaps we can reduce the number of “red-headed stepchildren” to the benefit of all.
Onward.
“[…] All those folks who work at lower wage jobs have to live somewhere while they grow their skills for higher-wage careers. […]”
$laving..err..working at lower wage jobs won’t grow a body’s skills, remembering that, any organization needing to consider having you as but a lowly-paid member – let alone your condignly being paid your actual worth – is one surely not worth joining. Take a look at what’s happened to Uber for in$tance ‘Down Under’ in Australia.
p.s. I find it most interesting that “higher-wage” was deemed worthy of being hyphenated but “lower wage” was not, being something akin to that of wealthy folks deeming it nece$$ary for them to have a double-barreled surname to ‘rai$e’ their perceived $tanding in the community…if not only the workplace.
Land $ake$! I’m ‘reddy’..err..ready, tearing my hair out waitin’ to take the next ‘step’ when given clearance for $ake-off; and I won’t like but a hair-raising love child land myself in trouble if I can help it.
The closing of KRHV is a demonstration of political corruption. Decision to close the airport was made before any public hearings were held, and those hearings are stacked with social activists are going for affordable housing. The County already has $750M and site allocated for affordable housing.
It a push by land developers and aspiring politicians for higher office ganging together.
The proposal actually has very little affordable housing, but has plenty of upscale retail and high end housing.
This airport has sustained the local community in natural disasters. Just last Fall KRHV was used as a critical base for firefighting aircraft defending structures just over the nearby hill. The County of head of Roads & Airports denied it was a base for the local fire. Alice in wonderland pushing back on these people.
The clincher is the County (can’t make this up) hired a land-use expert named Mr. Murder to write up his analysis of the airport. Mr. Murder has a long-standing website with his desire to close Reid Hillview. The County assured the pilot community of his objectivity.
Isn’t there an ethics hotline or something like that in California for reporting this kind of behavior by city councils and the like?
Waiting for the midnight attack of the bulldozers like that which happened in Chicago.
“…the *midnight attack* of the bulldozers…”
Given we’re: “…A being *darkly wi$e* and rudely great, With too much knowledge for the $ceptic $ide” ($incere apologie$ to Alexander Pope [RIP]), let alone the ‘landed gentry’, we’ve such good grounds we never need stand aside to ‘Cater’ to the ‘pillars’ of $ociety.
Affordable housing!? The real problem is human reproduction. Three babies are born every second on the planet! Net increase of mouths to feed planet wide is 81 million per year – the population of Germany! Kurt Vonnegut suggested that excess population just bob around in the ocean! Nuf Said!
“[…] The real problem is *human reproduction*. […]”
Bein’ such a *diff’rent breed* from those now s_extinct, Man does not live on *bred alone*!
First error is the phrase “affordable housing”. There ain’t no such animal. First you need the land, and ALL the land everywhere is pretty much spoken for. The owners are convinced they have absolute gold, and won’t let go for anything (myself included). Then you have a PARADE of regulatory authorities, all with rules and regulations and fees out the wazoo, you will have tens of thousands of dollars in fees, permits, and so forth before you dig the first shovelful of dirt.
Example – there’s a 106 unit development going in locally. The land was 25 acres, completely undeveloped, for about $500K. Not terribly bad. Understand that we are also in one of the lowest cost areas in the state. By the time they have their permits and infrastructure in place, they will have about $30,000 in EACH lot – over $3,000,000 spent before any building can start.
These lots are little – 45 by 75 – and when the homes are done, they will be considered “starter homes” and will sell for – wait for it – $225,000 each. There’s nothing else around.
Lower cost housing (“affordable”) means old houses which are expensive to insure and maintain, or trailers, which are small, rickety and often firetraps.
Now lets go back to the $225,000 starter home. FHA says a maximum of 28% of the family income can go for housing, so that means with a mortgage of $180,000 (20% down, a paltry $45,000, a mere trifle, sofa money), the payment at 4% for 30 years is $860 a month (we’ll ignore taxes and insurance, which will add another $400 to $500 a month). Family income needs to be $3,100 a month net after taxes or $37,200 a year net. In this area, that means both people are going to be working full time, because there are also car payments and insurance, child expenses, food, health insurance and and and. People in service occupations don’t make that kind of money ($20+/hr, regularly), so there simply isn’t going to be “affordable housing” for them.
Building houses is *expensive*, there is no way around it. Buying houses is too.
What about rental houses? They are generally older, usually take more maintenance, and cost more to insure. In Florida, you get a homestead exemption for your residence, rental properties don’t get that. My home is worth three times what my rental property is worth, the taxes on the rental property are three times those of my home. The tenant gets to pay the taxes (it is built into the rent) and all the other expenses as well (also built into the rent), plus a SMALL profit for me. The taxes alone are substantially more than I make on the place. I really should sell it and put the money into the stock market.
Affordable housing? Sorry, not possible.
Now lets talk about hangars. Most municipal airports will lease you a space to build a hangar under a 20 year lease. At the end of the lease, the land, and whatever you’ve built on it, reverts to the city. You have to figure out the cost of the lease, the cost of the building, maintenance, insurance and taxes, add it all up and divide by 240, which is the number of rent payments you will get. That’s why hangars rent for $1,000 a month and up, sometimes WAY up. I’ve seen 50 by 50 hangars offered for sale for $350,000 to $450,000 around here (not in a major metropolitan area, either), and in the small print, it says “nine years left on city lease”. OK, $400,000 divided by 108 (9 times 12) is $3,703 a month . . . plus taxes and insurance. Some bargain.
This is fine if you are a big company with a multi-million dollar biz-jet and can write it all off on your taxes, but it sure doesn’t work for us.
Your calculator is your best friend. You may not always like what it says, but it won’t lie to you.
Hi Jeff, Thanks for the Boulder City airport comments. Confiscating hangars is outrageous! I wonder if AOPA knows about this? I should get off my chuff and do something but I’ve kind of given up on GA. Been there done that for 40 years and I’m very tired of medicals, IFR currency, lousy mechanics here in Vegas, and outrageous expenses. I almost bought a new Vashon Ranger this year but realized that if I put two adults in the seats at 200lb each I’d be at gross and wouldn’t be able to fuel the airplane! Flying with partial fuel is very foolish. I have 1800 hours so I know of what I speak. The FAA believes that the only good pilot is a grounded pilot who doesn’t cause pesky problems. I was a spoiled US Civil Servant for 30 years and probably most FAA employees only know how to write odious regulations and don’t know one end of an airplane from another! Bah Humbug!
The protesters who virtually attended the Supervisors’ hearing were stirred up by social media. About 10% could not speak English, suggesting that they are not here legally, and the thrust was they life is hard and that they want “affordable housing”. But the most affordable housing in the entre Bay area is the east side of the valley where Reid-Hillview is located.
The airport will be redeveloped, probably as industrial. Housing there would not be affordable unless the residents received a direct subsidy. The county would sell its 60 acres at market rates (by law) and it won’t be cheap. The other 120 acres where the runways sit were given to the county by Amelia Reid on the condition that it be used an as airport in perpetuity, yet the Supervisors are proceeding as if they can reuse the entire 180 acres. The enterprise is just nuts!
“[…] About 10% could not speak English,…
…and the thrust was they life is hard… […]” ???
You’ve fallen foul of *Muphry’s (sic) Law* here Pat.
Does the opposite of life being a ‘drag’ then mean it’s a ‘thrust’.
GA is always under attack and our airports are often poorly managed/neglected. For instance Henderson Executive at the South end of Las Vegas has a six year wait for shade hangars in our desert sun and newly constructed T-hangars rent for a grand a month! There is plenty of land for more shade and T-hangars! North Las Vegas airport has no wait for shade hangars but the airport is inconveniently located in the “far North” of town where egress to the Southern CA cities is difficult due to McCarran controlled airspace. Of course the new FAA LSA spec mandated by Congress won’t be final until December of 2023 (what’s the rush?) and meanwhile GA in the USA goes down the drain when it comes to innovation and affordable small but practical/usable GA aircraft. I consider the incompetent FAA the Antichrist of GA! Of course our legal system is also to blame – the gutted Statute of Repose was set at 17 years! Try building and selling an automobile with no sensible legal protection for 17 years! Also of course the new “basic med” is still too limiting. How often do you see auto accidents caused by medical problems of drivers? If the FAA was running the DMV we would all be wearing helmets in cars and probably limited to Mopeds for “safety”. Annual inspections should become bi-annual and IFR currency of 6 approaches every 6 months with modern avionics is also too burdensome where once again so called “safety issues” result in less safety! The final result is many fatalities due to FAA regs and our legal system limiting innovation, making new aircraft unaffordable, and pilots forced to fly 50 year old airplanes with WW-II technology.
Furthermore, just SE of Vegas in Boulder City, the city council has refused to renew the hangar ground leases and will confiscate private property and lease the hangars( which were bought and paid for by private owners) back to them. Overnight, owners become the tenants and lose 100k of value to a greedy city government. Something very wrong afoot in local, state and federal government. There is no overwatch when cities run amuck.
Next the golf courses then athletic fields? Maybe National Parks with all those beautiful views they would be great development opportunities.
“[…] Next the golf courses then athletic fields? […]” ???
Steady there Alford, for there’s many who’d have it said there ain’t any distinction given it takes mighty-big muscles in one’s tonsils to be able to holler out “Fore!” loud enough so someone’s not hit by a low-flying ball on final approach that’s veered..err..cleared to land (st)all punways.
Airport (KRHV as an example) advocates need to confront and persuasively rebut the following arguments for closing GA airports:
1. We don’t like them
2. We don’t want them
3. We won’t miss them (and their noise, and their risk of accidents, no matter how small)
4. They are used by only a tiny fraction of the population
5. They have to be continuously subsidized, either directly, or indirectly via the opportunity cost of superior revenue not realized from almost any other possible use of the land. Or both.
6. Small airports are a lousy, even unjustifiable use of precious real estate in the too-crowded, woefully under-housed, suburban-transitioning-to-urban environment of the SF Bay Area.
It’s a tall order and an uphill climb for sure.
We have to become vigilant champions of general aviation. Attend city/town/county meetings, get involved in the “Airport Authority” meetings, have talking points ready and loaded to counter detrimental proposals. Form “Friends of XXX Airport” groups, Political Action Committees – we have to fight politics with political tools. Remember that Jobs and Federal Grants, which bring money into the local economy, sales and services, and local taxes – are all talking points. Remember, in the halls of local Government – two things talk louder than anything else, Money, and Votes.
Remember the local population too – People don’t care that an airport is a vital infrastructure in an emergency. People do care if their Sunday Morning sleep in is interrupted by an aircraft, any aircraft, and their first target will be the local airport, regardless of whether the aircraft originated from there or not. They don’t care if that airport provides 5 jobs, or 500 jobs. It’s all about them, there is nothing more frustrating than a minor in convenience to those with nothing else better to complain about. Those become the Cause – and the effort to correct that can be astronomical.
So when we operate – follow the noise abatement rules, be considerate, remember, Always be ready to counter the Media, who loves to portray aviation as Thrill seeking adventure, and pilots as adrenaline fueled dare devils, or incompetent idiots. Always be a good General Aviation Ambassador.
Keep in Mind – we are outnumbered, outgunned, and out funded. We’re the underdog in almost every conversation about our future. Used to be America loved the Underdog, but I guess we’ve gotten too soft and entitled for that sort of thing.
“we have to become vigilant champions of aviation. […]”
We have to stand our ground and not take flight at the first sign of trouble, even if the enemy’s just shooting the breeze and happens to wing you, remembering that:
“Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defence.” – Mark Twain –
As we close airports in the USA, China is building new airports and buying up much of the commercial and general aviation assets; Cirrus, Continental engines, Enstrom Helicopters, etc. etc. The death of aviation in America is in symptomatic of the decline of America itself. Time America realizes what’s going on, stops pointing the finger at China (there are there pointing back), and gets off its obese butt, and starts building rather than packing it up!
If Chinese-built planes all end up with wongky wings it’ll lift my $pirit$; and they’d best not attempt marketing any souped-up helicopters under the brand name of Chopper $uey.
I was an airport kid at both the original San Jose airport (King Road airport) and Reid-Hillview (Reid’s Hillview airport). Cecil Reid, Bob “Pop” Reid Sr., Bobby Reid Jr., and Amelia Reid were a few of my earliest mentors.
At Reid-Hillview, I soloed in one of Frank Pinkerton’s Aeronca 7 AC (Pinkerton Aviation) at the age of 16, followed by my Private license with Mac McMurdo (Spartan Aero), and finally my Commercial with Amelia Reid.
My father, Richard Bauer, and his business partners, Herm and Marion Barnick, operated Gee Bee Aero, a major airframe repair and salvage operation, first at the King Road Airport, then later at Reid-Hillview. Their hangar is shown in the lower left hand side of the airport photograph – the blue hangar at the north end of the airport with the fence on the east side.
I have many fond memories: helping Cecil at the “gas pit” and cleaning aircraft at the wash rack, riding in the front seat of the Reid’s Fairchild 21 with both Pop and Cecil, and in Amelia’s Bird biplane, and finally working at my Dad’s shop.
Amen, brother Brian – it is all about the money! The King Road airport closed because the County changed the tax rate from rural to subdivision. My family arrived in Santa Clara valley in 1951 – I left for Alaska in 1974.
WELL SAID AND PUT, Everywhere I have lived as a pilot and resident , their been a problem with the secondary airport.
Nationwide, in every single state, local and state politicians do whatever scheme pops into their heads, in the name of progress, whether it is or not. And we just grouse, grumble and go on to the next thing.
This will stop when the citizens stop it.
Why be surprised these endangered airports are in the middle of CA (SMO, SJC)? We call it Anarcho-primitivism. An ideology that advocates a return to non-“civilized” ways of life through deindustrialization, abolition of capitalism, and tearing out of infrastructure that supports modern life.
My little airport on top of a hill and only 2100 feet long near New Cumberland WV 7G1, was used
by the governor to survey flood damage on the Ohio River several years ago. It was the closest landing site to the flooded areas. Like all GA fields we received noise complaints on a regular basis but not on that day as two WV ANG Black Hawks circled to pick up the Governor. If sling loading water and supplies would have become necessary our field could have become a critical distribution point. Just saying.
“[…] …we *received* noise complaints on a regular basis… […]”
Does this mean you no longer receive noise complaints, Jim, and if so, just quietly, what caused them to abate?
Glad to discuss this issue. I live in Santa Clara County and it’s a cesspool. For example, they just preserved Coyote Valley (over 1200 acres of farmland) as an “open space preserve, despite it being literally vacant farmland. One could put a lot of high rise low income housing there with minimal environmental impact. Also zoning and building regulations in the county have favored low rise/ and single family homes. That’s a policy problem not a land problem.
The left wing politicians of Santa Clara county also see general aviation as a “rich white male hobby.” So there is the class element at play as well.
Reid Hillview is a victim of left wing politics, not a victim of any actual housing shortage. Also the supervisors are salivating over the developer money they could get for that airport land. There is plenty of space for housing but there is no will to actually use it optimally.
I live at Moffett Field and you could fit three Hillviews inside the grounds of that airport. And literally the only planes that can use their 9000 and 8000 foot runways are private jets owned by Google as the Air National Guard doing currency flights. There are only a few operations per day out of Moffett. While I love Moffett, it’s fascinating how Santa Clara never says anything about it. Perhaps because it’s federal land and thus any sell of it wouldn’t enriched the financially inept Santa Clara County. But if we want to make a “land for housing” argument, then Moffett should be in the discussion — however it’s not. Because this isn’t about housing. This is about county supervisors enriching their friends. Since Google has a very valuable lease for Moffett, you aren’t going to see Santa Clara County demanding that Google move their multiple Gulfstreans elsewhere. Incidentally the Google jets don’t have Santa Clara County property taxes assessed either, so the rest of us who fly out of Palo Alto, SJC, or Hillview get to pay high taxes for our little Cessna while the Google jets don’t pay a single cent.
Let’s not pretend that this is about housing land. It’s not. It’s about Santa Clara County politicians getting rich. They could bulldoze Levi Stadium if they cared about housing. The majority of the time, that stadium is empty. Yet they have it because somehow the San Francisco 49ers are an inconvenient target of hare-brained County politicians.
If we need housing, they could build plenty. This is about money, not any social good.
Amen. I used to live in Silicon Valley and have actually flown in and out of that airport — before I got my PPL.
It is my opinion that the city did not live up to its obligations, and the FAA, as best I can tell, didn’t hold their feet to the fire.
FAA lacks the ______ (impolite word for wherewithall) to hold any community’s feet to the fire. Can you say Meigs? Or maybe Santa Monica? They’ll huff and puff and turn the other cheek.