The Friday, Oct. 7 Press headline “Airport airs Hayden Village worries” and accompanying article were well written, but they may have created the wrong impression in readers’ minds regarding the interaction between the Coeur d’Alene Airport and the city of Hayden. My comments were not intended to imply that the city of Hayden would do anything to put citizens at risk. I apologize if that was the result. Both the current Mayor Griffitts and former Mayor McIntire, as well as the entire Hayden City Council, have expressed their full support of the Coeur d’Alene Airport and we enjoy a very good working relationship with them. In fact, both mayors were instrumental in providing the infrastructure to allow major area employer and airport resident Empire Airlines to remain and prosper in Kootenai County.

As the director of the Coeur d’Alene Airport it is my responsibility to address airport safety on the airport and to provide advice on land use issues in the vicinity of the airport. The Coeur d’Alene Airport Advisory Board and airport staff help the Board of Kootenai County Commissioners make decisions regarding airport issues. Safety first is always the viewpoint from which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Coeur d’Alene Airport Administration focus. Our intent is always to identify and avoid safety conflicts as much as possible.

The authority and jurisdiction of the Coeur d’Alene Airport stops at the airport property boundary. The FAA will help with funding for Kootenai County to purchase some of the land we should have as a federally recommended airport safety area. For the areas which surround the airport, but are still critical to

safety, we must rely on the authority of neighboring jurisdictions to provide for the airport’s concerns in their plans and regulations. In this case we have been working with the city of Hayden, which has annexed the property on three sides of the airport into their city limits.

The Coeur d’Alene Airport location was carefully selected and originally built in the early 1940s to be a military airport in support of World War II efforts. This location, with its relatively flat ground with ample separation from mountains and area communities provided an excellent place to aviation activities. The mountains haven’t moved, but the location of the neighboring communities certainly has. As they grow, the potential for possible compatibility issues in land use becomes more likely. Pilots like to have open space around airports so in case of an emergency in flight that prevents getting to the runway safely, they have an alternative landing site that will not endanger themselves, passengers, or people on the ground. The airport prepares and protects safety areas around runways and especially off the end of runways on airport property, but it’s generally impractical to buy all of the property in the areas of concern. Now that farm fields are being turned into developments, we hope to have compatible developments that minimize safety concerns.

Some background on general land use guidelines around airports and specifically the issues discussed in this article will hopefully add some clarity to help interested Kootenai County citizens. The Bureau of Aeronautics division of the Idaho Transportation Department has recently released the Idaho Airport Land Use Guidelines document created to help elected officials and non-aviation planners understand the critical components of planning around airport. Website link: http://www.cdaairport.com/index.asp. Certain issues emerge from these new guidelines which pertain to optimum planning for properties around the airport. The Kootenai County Commissioners, the Airport Advisory Board and Coeur d’Alene Airport staff look forward to working with Mayor Griffitts, the Hayden City Council, management and staff to find the best possible solutions for the citizens we serve.

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Greg Delavan is Coeur d’Alene Airport manager.