Imposes New Rules, Shifts Safety Burden To Local Fire Department

Hangars at Watsonville Municipal Airport in California (KWVI) are being used for a lot of things not related to aviation, according to airport manager Rayvon Williams, and he is trying to do something about it.

But his efforts are drawing the ire of several of the airport's hangar tenants.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that Williams has found enterprises operating in the airport's hangars ranging from the manufacture of bread trays to vending machines and handbags for sale on Ebay. 

There is a waiting list of 150 people for hangars at the airport. That led to two tenants convincing the widows of tenants who had passed away to sell them their hangar permits.

Until recently, attorneys had told Williams that there was little he could do, as the leases did not require tenants to follow the rules as long as they had a copy of the document in their possession. So he put together a committee of pilots to give him input on how to rewrite the section of the city's municipal code dealing with the airport. The first update to that chapter of the code since 1978 was passed by the council last year. The period for public comments on the regulations closed May 15.

Part of the rewrite transfers responsibility for safety at the airport the Watsonville Fire Department. Williams said that he wants "to get out of the fire safety business." Pilots, particularly those involved in building aircraft, have complained that the change adds an unnecessary level of bureaucracy to the airport. 

FMI: www.cityofwatsonville.org