01/09/95 Williams/Airport Neighborhood Plan RecommendationsTO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Bruce Williams, City Manager
RE.: Airport Neighborhood Plan Recommendations
DATE: January 9, 1995
Now that you have adopted an airport neighborhood plan, it
becomes necessary for you to begin discussing and deciding how the
major objectives of the plan are to be implemented. Several policy
issues remain undecided that will have an impact on the
implementation of the plan, all requiring policy direction from the
city council. Among them are: mariagement'and :pol`icy making -for
gperatlon of the airport;'` zoning and zoning. administration. f or the
airport neighborhood area; excess property disposition,
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$Iisptribution o.f proceeds, from sale of property, financing the
continuing opera.tional.- requirement`s and capital- needs of- the
airport,, and replacing ball f elds'displaced by the implementation'
of the plan.'= This report will address each issue and attempt to
provide you with policy direction.
ICY MAKING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE AIRPO
Policy making and management of the airport is currently
provided by the City. City Council sets policy with the management
responsibilities being assigned to the Parks and Recreation
Director. Admittedly, not much of either has occurred over the
last four years except for the adoption of the neighborhood plan.
One option for the future policy and management administration of
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the airport is to have the city take a more active role in
developing policy and administration.
A second option that has been discussed is to create a
municipal airport authority that would essentially replace the city
as the policy setting body and further assume the management
responsibilities by employing an airport manager or making other
management arrangements. In Montana, creating an airport authority
is relatively easy to do. Any city council may, by resolution,
create a public body, corporate and politic, to be known as a
municipal airport authority, which shall be authorized to exercise
its functions upon the appointment and qualification of its first
commissioners. Upon the adoption of a resolution creating a
municipal airport authority, the governing body of the municipality
shall, pursuant to the resolution, appoint not less than five
persons as commissioners of the authority. For Council's infor-
mation, I have attached to this report a copy of the specific
statutes concerning general powers of the authority, commissioner
responsibility, and tax levy authority of a municipal airport
authority. This option is quite similar to the recently created
parking authority with respect to policy and administration.
A third option available to you in operating the airport is to
lease or contract, for a term not exceeding forty years, to any
person or firm you deem qualified to provide such services. This
option would be similar to the arrangement you have with the
Kalispell Golf Association for operation of the city golf course.
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As you recall, the plan identified several strategies designed
to improve operations and safety conditions at the airport while
enhancing opportunities for increased private investment and
commercial development in the area. The six goals you adopted as
part of the plan include: 1) minimizing hazards to navigation; 2)
developing the airport in accordance to an airport layout plan; 3)
increase development opportunities on nearby properties; 4) promote
compatible land uses in and around the airport; 5) establish
funding for airport operations and capital requirements; and 6)
establish a priority schedule for plan implementation.
All three policy and management options identified above if
given proper council direction and authority could successfully
implement the objectives of the airport plan. Of the three
options, creating a municipal airport authority might be the most
successful method of achieving results, because a single focused
board made up of members whose interest is specifically airport
related would tend to stay on track and is less likely to be
distracted by other unrelated municipal policy issues as would be
the case if we decided to use present city structure to manage the
airport affairs. It is, therefore, my recommendation to create by
resolution a municipal airport authority as outlined in state
statute and, in addition, provide the authority with specific tasks
that you desire having them address during the next few years.
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II. ZONING AND ZONING ADMINISTRATION FOR
THE AIRPORT NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
The neighborhood plan advocates zoning that would allow a
variety of commercial, office, and industrial uses. We have
prepared maps of the area which identify ownership, current zoning,
and proposed zoning.
Map I identifies airport property ownership with city owned
property appearing in blue color, and private ownership appearing
in purple. I call your attention to the small parcel of privately
owned property at the northwest corner of the map. This parcel is
currently on the market for sale and it is our under -standing that
the potential buyer wants to build a three-story building on the
lot. We have been in touch with the realtor representing the owner
and have indicated to him that at this time we would be unable to
issue a building permit, even though the property is presently
properly zoned. Our reason for this position is that the entire
parcel lies within the airport runway protection zone (RPZ).
According to the adopted airport neighborhood plan and FAA
regulations, the function of a RPZ is to enhance the protection of
people and property on the ground. The plan states that "land uses
prohibited from the RPZ include residences and places of public
assembly." The plan also indicates "this zone should be clear of
all objects, although some limited uses are permitted such as
agriculture activities and golf courses."
Map II identifies the current zoning of the area with the blue
color representing P-1 zone, red designating B-2, gray designating
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I-1 and brown.as RA-1. Also note that the property lying within
the RPZ is zoned B-2 and RA-l.
Map III identifies the zoning changes as recommended by the
airport plan. The blue color designates P-1, red is B-2, and gray
is I-1. Note that the property lying within the RPZ is being
changed from B-2/RA-1 to P-1, and as you know, this change
represents a major down zoning of this parcel. In light of the
need to protect the RPZ, it very well may be that the city will
have to acquire the down zoned property or allow the property to
remain B-2/R-1 and move the airport runway a few hundred feet
south. Either way, the solution appears to be expensive. It is
staff's recommendation that the zoning identified on Map III be
forwarded to the planning commission for review, public hearing,
and a recommendation.
III. AIRPORT EXCESS CITY PROPERTY
The neighborhood plan discusses the need to increase
development opportunities on nearby properties by identifying city -
owned properties in the area of the existing airport that are not
airport dependent. These parcels include the 12.5 acre Holler
Baseball fields which front the highway, the 4.1 acre Haven
Baseball fields which are located on the east side of the highway
next to the Outlaw Inn, and the 34.4 acre parcel located on the
west side of the airport, which contains a baseball field and the
soccer fields.
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The use of the ballfields at the airport, and throughout the
community, is a major component of the intense recreational
activity occurring in Kalispell and surrounding areas. The need
for additional facilities (i.e. soccer, baseball, and softball) is
well documented; so is the difficulty of finding and acquiring
reasonably priced and properly zoned land for them. We have the
opportunity to incorporate plans for a baseball/softball complex
and soccer fields as part of the airport transition plan. While
declaring Haven and Holler ballfields surplus and selling them for
commercial use makes a tremendous amount of good sense, likewise,
leaving them as ballfields makes no sense. It is staff's recommen-
dation that council declare the Haven and Holler parcels as excess
and offer both for sale with the understanding, of course, that the
property cannot be developed until the ballfields have been
replaced. The soccer parcel should be reserved for specific
airport related purposes and nothing done with it until such time
as more definite plans have been made for its use.
IV. FINANCING AIRPORT OPERATIONS & CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS
The operation of the airport is presently funded by a combination
of user fees and fuel tax. The total of the two primary sources of
income only amounts to about $8,400 and supports, a very meager
budget which barely covers the cost of insurance and minor
maintenance expenses. A more proper budget necessary to support
the airport as the airport plan suggests would cost considerably
more than we presently spend on the operation. An airport
authority would have the option of levying up to two mills for
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operating purposes provided the city council authorizes the levy.
If this option was used to raise money, it is important to note
that the 2 mills is subject to the provisions of I-105. Other
revenue sources available to a new airport authority include:
increasing present user fees, adding new fees as discussed in the
airport plan, and/or by creating revenue generating development on
the light industrial property sufficient to fund the continuing
annual operating costs of the airport. The capital improvements
identified by the airport plan provide a wide range of projects
including: runway extension, extension of the taxiway, removal of
all objects in the protective zone, strobe lights, installation of
a PAPI navigation system, new lights and wiring, chain link fence,
increase bearing load of runway, and the need for property
acquisition. The estimated cost for these projects (short/long
term) was approximately 1.8 million dollars. The cost of these
projects will need to be funded with either a municipal bond or as
the airport plan suggests using some of the proceeds from the sale
of excess property as a reinvestment into the city airport. The
idea of using sale proceeds for reinvestment seems to make more
sense than issuing municipal bonds, since it is not very likely
that a general aviation airport is capable of generating the level
of revenue necessary to support a bond issue. I would therefore
recommend that the proceeds from the sale of Haven and Holler
baseball fields be split equally between the airport project and
the construction of a new baseball/softball complex and a new
soccer field.
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