Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Opinion: Allow hangar subleasing




Ventura County is fortunate to have three airports: Camarillo, Oxnard and Santa Paula. They provide flight training, a base of operations for corporate aircraft, an aviation museum, private aircraft, experimental aircraft construction and more. Our two county-owned airports, Camarillo and Oxnard, are a part of the national transportation system and receive federal and state grants.  Our airports contribute a useful service to our community and much to the economy.

For years there has been a severe shortage of hangar space at the two county airports. Presently, over 140 aircraft are on a five-year waiting list for space. The airports have over 230 privately owned small hangars, many having vacant space that could be occupied by an aircraft in need of a hangar. However, the Private Hangar Land Lease Agreement with the county requires that a private hangar be occupied by an aircraft registered to the lessee.

There are numerous reasons why a hangar owner may not have his own aircraft stored in his hangar, and that vacant space could be rented out for use by another aircraft. Some hangar owners are receiving notices of non-compliance and their gate cards are being deactivated, denying vehicle access to their hangars.

The Camarillo Airport Hangar Owners Association has repeatedly requested the county director of airports to amend the private hangar agreement to permit subleasing vacant space to the many aircraft in need, but to no avail. Finally, the county’s Aviation Advisory Commission has approved a request by the association to place the item on a future meeting agenda.

The Board of Directors of the Camarillo Airport Hangar Owners Association will be requesting that the commission recommend to the county Board of Supervisors that the hangar lease agreement be amended to permit subleasing.

Editor: The author is interim president of the Camarillo Airport Hangar Owners Association.

Dave Timms, Simi Valley

Original article can be found here:  http://www.vcstar.com

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