"County revisits Reid-Hillview Airport"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Monday, March 17, 2008

County revisits airport
EXPANSE OF REID-HILLVIEW LAND DRAWING A THIRD LOOK; OUTRAGED PILOTS GEARING
UP
By Deborah Lohse
The San Jose (CA) Mercury News


Is the county-owned Reid-Hillview Airport in East San Jose an expensive
indulgence or a crucial civic service?

That's the touchy question the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors plans
to tackle Tuesday - for the third time in nearly 20 years.

The board's chairman, Supervisor Pete McHugh, wants the supervisors to
investigate closing and redeveloping the 69-year-old airport property, which
serves about 600 private pilots. He'd like county staff members to come back
later this year with the practical and legal implications of doing so. 

"I think it's most appropriate for us to see what we can do with that land,"
said McHugh, who said a $220 million budget deficit spurred him to support a
possible sale after years of resisting.

McHugh notes that the county will reap $201 million during the next 28 years
from 34 acres of land it sold for housing near the Elmwood Correctional
Complex. The airport property, by contrast, is 179 acres. "That's five times
as much," he said. 

But some of the pilots who keep planes at Reid-Hillview are outraged, saying
the issue has been put to rest time and time again, most recently in 1996.

"The county has spent well over a million dollars studying this," said Mark
Kadrich, president of the Reid-Hillview Airport Association, a group of
pilots and other airport fans. "Their own reports and their own experts have
come back and said Reid-Hillview is the safest use of the land."

Fans and critics alike agree there would be numerous thorny issues if the
supervisors opt to sell the airport, including: 

. The county has accepted millions of dollars in federal grants over the
years, much of that on the condition that they keep the airport open for at
least 20 years. Can they repay that money, or must they wait for time to
lapse?

. Where would the planes now at Reid-Hillview go, especially since Mineta
San Jose International Airport is not welcoming new "general aviation"
planes? The recently expanded South County Airport in San Martin doesn't
have enough space, experts say.

. Will the Federal Aviation Administration, which helped fund the purchase
of the airport, resist its closure? The FAA counts on Reid-Hillview as a
backup landing site for small planes from San Jose airport.

. Will residents in the area be unhappy if the county puts traffic-clogging
housing or retail there as a way to generate revenue? Betty Howard, who has
lived on nearby Endicott Road for 35 years, said she's long wanted the
airport gone, but her first wish would be for a park or a place for kids to
play.

"I certainly would not like to see a hotel or something like that," she
said, although she said housing would still be preferable to the airport,
which occasionally sends planes through her neighborhood. 

Kadrich, who says several pilot groups will be speaking in protest at
Tuesday's meeting, noted that the money generated from things like hangar
rentals and fuel taxes at Reid-Hillview also supports the county's two other
airports in San Martin and Palo Alto. "They are not spending a dime on the
airport," he said.

County Executive Pete Kutras acknowledged the issue has been studied before,
but he said times have changed and the county needs to decide based on
facts, not "myths."

"Our financial condition continues to deteriorate," Kutras said. "What might
have been OK in the dot-com boom might not be OK in 2008."

   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php

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