FAA letter cites concerns: Fairchild, airport may be at risk

A recent letter from the Federal Aviation Administration has renewed concerns residential development on the West Plains could jeopardize the futures of Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport.

Inappropriate land use could expose Fairchild to closure during future U.S. Air Force base reviews, officials said, and the airport could lose access to federal dollars that have financed many improvements, including the $30 million control tower completed last summer.

In her April 15 letter to airport Director Neal Sealock, Seattle-based FAA Aviation Planner Mary Vargas says a new apartment complex may violate agreements signed by Spokane County and the city of Spokane that assured no development would take place that compromises airport operations. The county and city co-own Spokane Airport.

Unless residential encroachment is stopped, she writes, “future FAA funding could be jeopardized” and pending airport improvements delayed or denied.

Although Vargas refers to a “proposed” complex, the apartments already exist. Developer Dick Vandervert completed the first of two phases of Deer Creek Apartments last year.

Wednesday, he appeared before Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey seeking permission to proceed with the second phase. Sealock and representatives from the city, Fairchild and Greater Spokane Incorporated opposed his application.

Vandervert said his project, and plans to add a hotel, theater and other amenities later, are being blocked by plans for another airport runway that might not be built “in our children’s lifetime.”

“We thought we were vested,” he said, when the site was rezoned as a non-conforming use in a light-industrial area.

The county decision triggered complaints from airport officials that resulted in a moratorium, imposed in October 2006, on further residential construction on the West Plains. The county has scrambled since then to define the areas where development can proceed, but County Commissioner Todd Mielke said Wednesday mistakes continue to plague the process.

Planners thought Interstate 90 was an acceptable southern boundary, he said, until an application for residential buildings on the highway’s south side revealed another oversight.

“It’s frustrating. It’s embarrassing,” Mielke said after an airport board meeting livened by discussion of the Vargas letter and its implications.

He also complained that FAA officials have given inconsistent signals on the severity of the problem Deer Creek poses.

City Council President Joe Shogan said misplaced residential construction threatens two of the area’s major economic assets.

“It’s a serious matter as far as the viability of this facility,” he said, adding that Fairchild might have been in trouble if Deer Creek had been built when the Air Force was conducting its base reviews.

Board member Irving Reed said he has seen other airports closed due to encroachment. “It seems to be out of control,” he said.

Sealock, who was rebuffed by Vandervert when he tried to shake hands after Dempsey closed the hearing, said Deer Creek will haunt the airport.

“We will be held accountable,” he said. “We’re already in jeopardy.”