Stol wrote:Yup.... Guy was pissed at the IRS,,, lit his house on fire,,,,,,, got in his cherokee 140 and stuffed it into the windows of the IRS building. This is going to set us pilots back 100 years now.

Supreme Court rules against local airport, pilots not giving up
Photos by Keri Wood
By Cody Kitaura-Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 11:47 AM CST


The California Supreme Court handed down a ruling that could seal the fate of the Sunset Skyranch Airport.

The court ruled recently that Sacramento County wouldn’t need to do any kind of environmental review before denying a use permit for the small airport, which is on Grant Line Road.

The airport has been operating without a permit since 2006 when the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted against a renewal. They cited encroaching urban development and the Elk Grove Unified School District’s desire at the time to build an elementary school nearby.

Lanny Winberry, an attorney for the Sunset Skyranch Pilots Association, argued that because the county was grounding traffic at the airport to make way for future development, the environmental impact of that future development would need to be studied as a part of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements.

The court disagreed, saying in a statement, “projects rejected by a public agency are specifically exempted from CEQA requirements.”

Attorney John Taylor represented Sacramento-based Pappas Investments, which he said hopes to turn its property across the street from the airport into a housing development.

“The zoning there right now restricts the density to a very low level,” Taylor said in a phone interview. “(This ruling) allows them to request an increase in density from the city of Elk Grove.”

Taylor said while the housing market has slowed considerably since this issue was first raised in 2006, Pappas Investments is still likely to develop the area.

“I wouldn’t look for them to be doing that tomorrow,” he said.

Danny Lang, a pilot who practices law in Oregon, owns the airport. Lang could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Pilots considering applying for another permit

Sunset Skyranch Pilots Association president Kevin Cordes speculated the downturn in the housing market might have created political will for the county to let the airport stay, but in order to find out for sure, the pilots would have to reapply for a use permit from the county at a cost of $4,500.

“I’m going to stay until we can’t fly anymore,” he said. “I think there’s still a lot of potential. I’m still hopeful.”

Cordes said he might try to organize a pledge drive to raise money for the application fee.

He said there are about 45 pilots at the airport and 20 who fly often. He pointed out, while their airplanes could be easily relocated, it would be much harder to find a new place for their hangars, which the pilots own. Some are portable and can be towed, but others are permanent.

Cordes’ own hangar, which he said was a bargain at $9,000, is filled with tool chests, machinery, a dirt bike, a half-built kit airplane, and an office that he lived in for a year and a half when he first moved to Elk Grove. He said most of the items would fit in his garage at home.

Cordes and three other pilots met on Jan. 6 with Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli, whose district includes the airport, to ask whether applying again for a use permit would be worthwhile.

Nottoli was the sole supervisor to vote in favor of the airport in 2006.

In a Jan. 5 interview, Nottoli said the pilots should “touch base with the board members who opposed it to see if there is any willingness (to reach a deal for) something on a shorter term.”

He said he hoped the county would “at a minimum, give more time for the people (at the airport) to look at their options.”

qmdv wrote: I still wright letters and try to slow it down.

1SeventyZ wrote:

qmdv wrote: I still wright letters and try to slow it down.

I hope you have your wife proof-read them before you mail them.

JJBAKER wrote:They cannot differentiate between a 1946 J3 and a Cessna 400. .