Airport plan must fly thin line

Work on a plan has been ongoing for the Minden-Tahoe Airport since commissioners set a committee to the task early this year.

By early 2008, the Airport Master Plan Working Group will make its report to county commissioners. Not long after that, a new ordinance will have to be prepared for the 2008 ballot.

We don't claim to know what makes a good airport work.

But we do know there are some things Douglas County residents expect of their airport.

They expect it not to make a nuisance of itself. And no, converting to all glider operations is not going to fit that bill in itself. Tow planes have been the topic of resident complaints, just as corporate jets have.

Residents expect the airport to run smoothly and safely. Nothing wrecks the reputation of an airport like an airplane crashing into a house. Fortunately, that hasn't happened in the Valley, but aircraft have hit several other things in its vicinity.

There is a third thing that has drawn less attention, but if it failed to happen, we expect would attract a lot of attention.

Residents expect the airport to support itself. There was a time in Douglas County when the airport competed with the library and parks for funding. That hasn't been true in many years, but with tightening budgets, we're certain there would be an outcry if suddenly the airport was back in that line.

We agree with the Vanguard Coalition and, we suspect, several folks in the opposition that the airport needs a plan and an ordinance that works and is enforceable.

But that ordinance isn't going to make everyone in the airport community happy because the real compromise isn't between corporate jetsters and soaring enthusiasts, but between the airport and residents who call Carson Valley home.