| OCR Text |
Show Skypark Owner Chids Officials For 'Scant Cooperation' By MARK D. MICKELSEN WOODS CROSS One of the owners of Skypark Airport Tuesday lashed out at authorities in Woods Cross, North Salt Lake and Davis County for their scant cooperation in future development efforts at the privately owned facility and said there is no guarantee that the airport will ever be publicly owned. OWNER DAVE Davidson criticized Woods Cross for allowing Cowboy Oil Co. to expand into the so-called "free zones" around the airport. He said Skypark management was told that Woods Cross had not issued a building permit for a crackinR tower adjacent to the facility's main runway. However, after some checking, Mr. Davidson's attorney found that a permit was issued by the city for the development in October 1978. AS A RESULT of the construction of the cracking tower and a nearby refinery tank. Federal Aviation Administration officials deemed the airport's landing runway a menace, and will not allow government assistance for future development at the airport until the two obstacles are removed. re-moved. Mr. Davidson said he talked with spokesmen at Cowboy Oil about the problem prob-lem who said they were aware of the dangers, dan-gers, "but they just don't care" at this point. THE FAA, SAID Mr. Davidson, believes that the cracking tower and refinery tank are a hazard to incoming airplanes. Problems within the airport owners' partnership are also plagueing development develop-ment at the facility, according to Mr. Davidson. basing capacity will bring a lot of new business busi-ness into Woods Cross and Davis County, in general. But, he said, the biggest benefactor will be the increased tax base Woods Cross and surrounding communities will have to work with. THE PURPOSE of development. Mr. Davidson said, "is to make it (Skypark) a top-notch executive airport." About 56 additional single-engine type. 28 twin-type and 19 square-type airplane storage hangars are planned when the facility's facil-ity's operators overcome their financial problems, according to Mr. Davidson. IN ADDITION, lots on the east side of the facility have been subdivided to allow ' businesses sufficient hangar area for their planes and access onto the airport's main runway. This way. businessmen and women can have immediate access to both their planes and a runway to take off from. Mr. Davidson predicts that the airport will sufficiently be able to service up to 300 airplanes in the future. HE SAID IF the airport owners could get some cooperation from the county and nearby communities like Woods Cross and North Salt Lake, there is a chance that the runway and the taxiways could be publicly owned or leased. But. he said it will not happen without the full cooperation of all the governmental agencies involved. MR. DAVIDSON said both Woods Cross ane North Salt Lake officials have agreed to zone ground near the airport to aid. and not take away from the facility's growth pattern. But he said, as yet none of the cities have taken any positive or negative HE SAID UNTIL those problems are resolved, re-solved, the airport cannot possibly run properly. "The airport needs financing." he said, alluding to the fact that one of the owners currently is not "carrying his weight" of the burden of running the facility. And he said until there is a resolution between the three partners the airport "cannot go on." SKYPARK AIRPORT currently has the fourth largest airplane basing capacity in the state, and Mr. Davidson says with some construction and enlargement, the facility can almost double or triple its current capacity. He said he feels the airport can be a great service to Davis County because of its close proximity to Salt Lake City and Salt Lake International Airport. ALSO, HE PREDICTED enlargement of the airport's hangar facilities and general action. The runway and adjacent taxiways are the only things the owners are willing to part with presently for public ownership: None of the existing commercial ground will be leased or sold, Mr. Davidson said, for public ownership. "THAT AIRPORT can stand on its own two feet and does not have to be publicly owned." he said, explaining that public ownership would only allow Sky park to get government money for future improvements. improve-ments. Urging the cities to become involved in the airport's future, he said there just isn't room in the county for another airport and said each additional Skypark business would add onto the cities' and county's tax base. BIT AGAIN HE reiterated, there is no guarantee that the airport will ever "go public." |
