by ERIC GOURLEY

Not long ago the Sounder had a cartoon caption entitled, “In The Argument Over Airport Access Rights.” It was a two panel drawing of “The Losers,” and “The Winners.” The “Losers” were the Port of Orcas and property owners adjacent to the airport. The “Winners” were the “Lawyers.”

A new group now needs to be added to the “Losers.” That will be the “Taxpayers.” It is regrettable that the cartoon was so prescient. In order for the owners of the property adjacent to the airport to protect their deeded access to the runway it appears the Port of Orcas and the FAA are backing the landowners into a corner, which will inevitably lead to expensive lawsuits defending the Ferris Deed. This will not only be costly to the landowners, it will ultimately result in taxpayers paying to defend the Port’s and FAA’s position. In all likelihood, the landowners will prevail.

The 1959 Ferris Deed is a legal document clearly stating that the property owners shall have the right of access and the use of the airstrip for aviation purposes only. It is clear from the intent of the deed that Harold and Virginia Ferris desired the airstrip to be part of an aviation community with residences having access to the airport.

Now that the Port has received FAA grants, the FAA has threatened numerous times to rescind funding to the Port because residential development and access to the airport is “incompatible” with its Airport Improvement Plan (AIP) even though the FAA has consistently allowed for such operations over the years.

This gargantuan document, FAA Order 5190.6A, makes it clear that “as a general principle, FAA will recommend that airport owners (the Port) refrain from entering into any agreement, which grants access to the public landing area by aircraft normally stored and serviced on adjacent property.”

It is reasoned that such practice leads to noise abatement and land zoning issues. Since the owners of the properties concerned are pilots, I fail to follow this logic. Pilots having access to the runway are not going to complain about the noise or encourage zoning changes incompatible with aviation use.

The AIP is a “one plan fits all” prescription – what is good for Boeing Field is equally applicable to Orcas. On the contrary, it hardly applies to a small rural airport such as Orcas. What is plainly clear is that the FAA is using its funding ability to bully the Port. The Ferris Deed executed in 1959 will pre-empt the FAA from doing so. It is too bad that the owners and the taxpayers will bear the unnecessary costs of defending the rights of the property owners.

Eric Gourley lives in Eastsound.