Carson airport runway plans changed to alleviate neighbors' concerns

After years of battling with neighbors over a possible airport expansion, Airport Manager Yvon Weaver said she is hoping to start 2005 with good news for neighboring residents.

She said the runway expansion will be less aggressive than first planned. The board plans to move the runway away from homes.

The airport authority board recently approved a master plan amendment to build a new runway 6,100 feet long by 75 feet wide, which is 600 feet shorter and 25 feet narrower than what the board had decided in the March 2001 master plan. The runway is now 5,907-by-75 feet.

Although early estimates put the cost of this new runway at $14 million, that's still $715,000 cheaper than what it would've cost had the board decided to build the larger runway, Weaver said, and that was before the cost of purchasing homes and land was put into the equation.

One scenario before the airport authority would have been to obtain easements over 10 or 11 homes in the area between Bowers Lane and Sunrise Drive, east of the airport. The FAA later told the board that that option was not allowed and the airport would have to acquire those homes and properties. Weaver said the board rejected that scenario because it didn't want to force anyone out of their homes.

The airport authority plans to build the runway farther north from where it's now, in what officials call a "skewed alignment." This will put the runway farther from homes on Apollo Drive and East Graves Lane.

Tom Molnar, an Apollo Drive resident, said this change will make him feel safe, but he knows it's usually human error that causes plane crashes, not the location of the runway. On Sept. 1, 2001, Molnar watched as a plane crashed into the back yard of a home just kitty corner from his house. That plane struck an occupant of the residence who was in the yard. That crash was determined to be the fault of the pilot.

"The bottom line is I'm OK with it as long as they continue the plan to move the runway to the north," he said.

Airport authority board member Neil Weaver said runways are just like roads, and this one needs to be replaced.

"It missed Social Security and went straight to its death bed," said Neil Weaver, who is the husband of the airport manager and owner of Weaver Aircraft.

Yvon Weaver said the board chose this plan because it keeps the runway in the protection zone and doesn't extend into residential areas. The runway protection zone is an area required to remain as open space.

In addition to satisfying neighbors, Weaver hopes the change will make the airport a safer place to land.

"A pilot won't have to cross the active runway," she said. "We'll have a north parallel taxi way."

Despite Weaver's high hopes for a new runway, a lot is still up in the air. The benefit cost analysis and environmental assessment must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Weaver said she hopes to start runway construction in 2006 and finish by 2007. Weaver said the Federal Aviation Administration will pay 95 percent of the runway construction costs and the airport will cover the remaining balance, about $700,000. Weaver said they will seek grant funds and possibly a loan from the city.

Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.