Grant-Valkaria Town Council May Vote June 11
For the second time this year, the Grant-Valkaria Town Council
is attempting to restrict aviation activities at Grant-Valkaria
airport, including the end of all flight instruction. The move
comes despite the fact that they apparently have no jurisdiction to
make such a move.
The ordinance (2009-03) to be considered Monday states in the
bill summary: " ... PROVIDING FOR LIMITATIONS ON ACTIVITIES
CONDUCTED AT AIRPORTS LOCATED IN THE GML (Government Managed Land)
ZONING DISTRICT; PROHIBITING FLIGHT TRAINING/INSTRUCTION SCHOOLS
..." The text of the bill prohibits specific flight instruction
activities. For instance the bill states no flight
training/instruction or flight training/instruction schools shall
be allowed to be operated from or in the GML zoning district, and
aircraft based at any airport located in the GML zoning district
shall be used for flight training. The bill defines flight
training/instruction to mean the giving or receiving of instruction
in learning to pilot an aircraft or for recurrent training, and
flight training/instruction school shall mean any person firm,
corporation or other entity that provides flight
training/instruction.
Without getting too far down in the
procedural weeds, and we've probably already gone there, the
Airport Master Plan approved in 2006 describes the field like this.
"Valkaria Airport (FAA airport identifier X59) is a non-towered,
un-lighted, public-use, basic utility general aviation airport
principally serving Brevard County, Florida. It is an undeveloped
war surplus airfield primarily used for recreational flying, and
for landing practice by nearby pilot training schools. The airport
is located in a natural and environmentally sensitive setting, and
is largely surrounded by low density rural residential areas; to
include the communities of Grant-Valkaria, Malabar, and Palm Bay.
The airport is solely-owned and operated by Brevard County under
terms of a 1958 quit claim deed from the US Government and is zoned
Government Managed Lands (GML)."
The county, it would seem, is the owner and operator of the
airport. Not the town.
Earlier this year, the town council attempted to pass a law with
restrictions on the field. A February report in the TCPalm online
edition said the town wanted to prohibit touch-and-goes and
stop-and-goes, as well as airport lighting. That ordinance would
have also granted the town the right to simply "temporarily close
the airport and restrict or prohibit flight activities."
At the time, the FAA said the Grant-Valkaria town council had no
right to enforce such an ordinance. "Although the town of
Grant-Valkaria is within their right to pass local ordinances, they
are not within their right to enforce the ordinances at the
airport," FAA program manager Pedro Blanco wrote in a memo to
airport manager Steve Borowski.
"The town of Grant-Valkaria has no authority to regulate air
traffic."