Real Estate & Property Law

Airport Regulations Activity

By Alan Ackerman

Daily Inter Lake

Unfortunately, the city has spent a lot of money in recent years under the supposition that it would ultimately be reimbursed by the FAA. Gates, however, said that will never happen unless the city expands the airport in order to meet the minimum FAA standards.

And that is a tall order.

First of all, the runways aren't long enough for the FAA, and the KGEZ radio antennas impede on airspace. No one knows what will happen with the radio towers because the station is currently tied up in bankruptcy court. But in order to extend the runways, it would be necessary to acquire land from unwilling sellers using eminent domain, and municipal leaders have vowed not to do that.

So unless the City Council backtracks and starts over again with a new plan that somehow avoids unwilling property owners, and thus begins a new environmental assessment that starts the clock ticking again, the most likely result is leaving the airport as it is.

    In this situation the airport authority has acted without the proper environmental assessments.  It fails to maintain a rational game plan to appropriately negotiate and acquire properties by eminent domain if needed.
    The delay of the condemnation and the failure to fulfill its obligations to the federal government, which spent and exorbitant amount funding this airport, has created havoc with the Kalispell airport facility as well as the community. 
 

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on March 30, 2010 (boomark / email).