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Airport ReportThe City of Kalispell, in 1928, purchased 135 acres to establish a municipal airport. Except for a brief time in the 1950's, the airport has operated uninterrupted at its original location. In March of 1966 a group of local businessmen and aircraft owners formed the Kalispell Airport Association and leased the airport and its operation from the city of Kalispell. From this point forward, aviation activity has steadily grown and fixed base operators have been established at the airport. In 1979 the City had an airport "Mini Master Plan" prepared to examine current airport operations and make recommendations relative to the safety and long-term viability of the airport. Not surprisingly, the recommendations that came out of that plan are very similar to those contained in the 1993 Kalispell City Airport Neighborhood Plan. That plan, initiated by the Flathead Regional Development Office at the request of the Kalispell City Council, and completed by a private consultant, was adopted by the Kalispell City Council and the Flathead County Board of Commissioners in September of 1994. The purpose of this report is to: (a) provide a thorough description of the airport and its environs, (b) summarize the recommendations of the 1993 Kalispell City Airport Neighborhood Plan, and (c) detail the costs associated with the implementation of the Plan. These costs include improvements to the airport as well as the relocation of the youth baseball, softball and soccer fields. Kalispell's municipal airport consists, from a practical standpoint, of both public and private land and structures. For the purposes of this report, land lying east of Highway 93 and occupied by the Haven baseball fields is considered to be a part of the airport. This 4.1 acre parcel, together with the Lion's Park site immediately to the south, were part of the original 135-acre airport property, but were later segregated due to the relocation and construction of U.S. Highway 93. While the City retains title to most of the original airport property, a number of parcels have been sold, and right-of-way acquisitions have also decreased the size of the original site. Non -municipal holdings in the immediate area include the Elk's Club, the Aero Inn, the National Guard Armory, and the Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) building, all fronting on U.S. Highway 93; Strand Aviation, located behind the armory; and Stockhill Aviation (now Diamond Aire) and the USFS building, fronting on Airport Road. City -owned properties at the airport can be best described by the functions they serve. The Daley ballfields, which occupy 12.527 acres, are situated west of Highway 93 between the National Guard Armory and the SRS building; the Haven ballfields are located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Highway 93 and 18th Street East; the 26-acre Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) parcel is situated east of Airport Road, north of Ashley Creek; the airport landing field, described in exhibit xxx, lies approximately 400 feet west of, and parallel with, Highway 93; a city water well is situated on a small (1/2 acre) parcel of property between the Aero Inn and the National Guard Armory; youth soccer fields occupy that area immediately north of the WWTP parcel; and the remainder of the _property, located west of the runway, is occupied by airplane tiedowns, hangars and Eagle Aviation. The following are detailed descriptions of each of the parcels owned by the City. MADMAIIAMM 0113 O Located west of U.S. Highway 93, between the National Guard Armory and the SRS office building, this 12.527-acre parcel is currently used by the Kalispell Youth Softball and Pee Wee Baseball Associations. The Kalispell Youth Softball Association has six fields at this location, and there is one Pee Wee field. The site has approximately 1,534 lineal feet of frontage on U.S. Highway 93, and averages 360 feet in depth. There are no unique topographic features found on the treeless, grassy site. Two easements are located on the site. A utility easement, thirty (30) feet in width, abuts the south property. A road easement, also thirty (30) feet in width, is located along the site's north property line. The property is currently zoned B-2, General Business, in the City of Kalispell. The permitted uses, conditionally -permitted uses, and development standards for the B-2 zone are attached. " All utilities are readily available. City of Kalispell water service is available from a main on the west side of Highway 93. City sewer service is available from a sewer main located on the east side of Highway 93, between Lion's Park and Kelly Road. Natural gas, electricity, telephone and cable TV are also available to the site. ' < D I ► . � �11-�1'1� 17y The Haven complex consists of one Babe Ruth and one Pee Wee baseball field on 4.1 acres of ground. The site has frontage on three separate rights -of -way: 650 feet on U.S. Highway 93; 390 feet on Kalispell's 18th Street East; and 471 feet on Kalispell's Third Avenue East. The trapezoidal -shaped property is level and unimproved (other than the two ballfields and their appurtenances). The site is not encumbered by eaements of any kind. The property is currently zoned B-2, General Business. The permitted uses, conditionally permitted uses, and development standards for the B-2 zone are attached. The site is served by all utilities. City sewer and water mains are situated in both 18th Street East and Third Avenue East. The site is also served by natural gas, electricity, telephone and cable TV. .. , 1t 11,11 ,MIX4 V ► The City of Kalispell's Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) occupies this 26.2 acre site located east of Airport Road and north of Ashley Creek. The site is of sufficient size to accomodate future growth of the plant. The WWTP site is zoned P-1, Public. Access to the site is via a driveway (not a dedicated right-of-way at this time) from Airport Road, which is also used to access Parcel 5 described below. The City owns a small parcel (.51 ac.) of property immediately west of U.S. Highway 93, between the Aero Inn and the National Guard Armory. One of the City's three water wells is located at this site. The property is zoned P-1, Public. At the present time, the area situated north of the Wastewater Treatment Plant access road and east of Airport Road is used by area youth and adult soccer clubs. As many as six (6) soccer fields can be configured at this location at any given time. There is also one Pee Wee baseball field at this location. The City recently rezoned this property to an I-1, Light Industrial, classification in conformance with the goals and objectives of the Kalispell City Airport Neighborhood Plan. Permitted uses, conditionally -permitted uses, and development standards for the I-1 zone are attached. Located north of the soccer fields and west of the runway is city -owned property that is, in part, leased to a number of tenants for a variety of uses, most of which are airport -related. Land uses in this area include Eagle Aviation, various airplane hangars and tiedown areas, and a trailer storage/display lot. This property was also rezoned to an I-1, Light Industrial, classification. Parcels 5 and 6 total 34.8 acres in area, and are served by all utilities, including City sewer and water, electricity, natural gas and cable TV. Access to Parcels 5 and 6 is available from Airport Road only. The remainder of the property owned by the City constitutes the landing field itself. Oriented northwest to southeast, the landing field consists of a single VFR runway, approximately 3,585 feet in length. The paved runway has a minimum width of 60 feet. Taxiways parallel the runway, with the easterly taxiway running the entire runway length, while the westerly taxiway stops approximately 1,300 feet short of the south end of the runway. Both taxiways are paved. The runway and taxiway lighting system is comprised of fifty low intensity lights and six threshold lights at the end of each runway. An airport beacon light is located in the vicinity of the USFS building west of the runway. There are, at this time, three fixed base operators (FBO's) at the City Airport. An FBO is defined as a business or individual located at an airport that provides general commercial aviation services such as aircraft repair, flight instruction or fuel sales. These and other services are provided at the Kalispell airport by Eagle Aviation, Strand Aviation and Diamond Aire (in the former Stockhill building). Eagle Aviation is located on City -owned property; the other two are on private property. At each end of the runway is a limited amount of City -owned property. At present there is not sufficient area at either end of the runway to meet Federal Aviation Administration standards with respect to object free areas (clear zones) or runway protection zones (RPZ's). The lack of protection to runway approach areas is one of the most significant shortcomings of the Kalispell City Airport. There is only about 650 feet of separation between the north edge of the runway and the 18th Street right-of-way, and 300 feet between the runway and private property to the south.