The Complaint

In this case, the AOPA represented pilots who sued the city of Pompano Beach, FL, after the city passed regulations against various aviation activities at the Pompano Beach Air Park (KPMP). The City passed ordinances restricting stop-and-go and touch-and-go operations, intersection takeoffs, glider operations, taxi-backs, prolonged engine runups, and the inclusion of rotorcraft in these restrictions. The pilots filed a complaint with the FAA in response.

Sound familiar? It should... Grant-Valkaria's Town Council has been trying this repeatedly since January 2009!

Background

The city of Pompano Beach gained ownership of the facility from the federal government under quitclaim deeds in 1947 and 1948, which... just like at Valkaria Airport... perpetually obligated the airport owner to abide by the rules set forth by the FAA, including not unjustly discriminating against aeronautical uses and activities.

The Findings

Predictably, the Director of the FAA (the governing entity in this case) found that the city was in violation of their obligations under their quitclaim deeds.

Furthermore, "The Director finds that the City's continued noncompliance may be grounds to declare the City in default under the 1992 Agreement**, which would be cause for the FAA to withdraw its consent for the City to use Air Park property, including airport revenue, for non-aviation purposes." (** This pertained to an agreement in which the FAA and the City settled disputes over the underpayment of land rents on the Air Park property by the City for non-aviation purposes, which permitted the City to continue using the 444 acres of said property which includes a golf course, park, water plants, fire station, and horse facilities. The direct correlation with Valkaria would be the County's use of airport property for The Habitat golf course, Mosquito Control, and the Fire Station facilities... including all the revenues they may generate.)

The Tie-In To Valkaria Airport

Brevard County has grant assurances in place which are attached to all their transportation-related grants from the federal level (road, bridges, waterways, railroads, and air). The US DOT (FAA's parent organization) has, as a punitive measure, forced the repayment of ALL transportation grants received (not just airport-related ones) and removed cities from any further eligibility for future ones in cases where local municipalities insisted upon illegally restricting activity at their local airport.

The Very Definition Of Bad Government: The Grant-Valkaria Town Council

While the officials of the Towns of Grant-Valkaria and Malabar have a long history of irrational and unjustifiable antagonism towards Valkaria Airport (though only a tiny fraction of their citizens approve of their anti-airport views), the airport is now, and always shall be, owned by Brevard County... at least so long as the County doesn't do anything to force the FAA to take it back. However, these town's repeated attempts to create illegal restrictions upon the aviation activities at the airport now and in years past have served ONLY to cost the taxpayers (i.e., YOU) lots and lots of wasted money. We taxpayers are on the hook for the great amounts of County and Federal employee's time (including well-paid attorneys) required to refute these ridiculous efforts by the clowns who run these towns.

Put simply: The officials of these towns have continuously abused their positions to carry out a personal vendetta, at great expense to hundreds of thousands of taxpayers. While they are entitled to any opinions they want, public officials are NEVER, EVER entitled to knowingly break the law, even when claiming that it's "what their citizens want"! Even moreso when everyone concerned absolutely KNOWS that it's NOT what the citizens want at all! Though in many countries, their actions would quickly result in them being arrested, tried, and imprisoned (or even executed), in America it hits us all a bit more personally... our taxes get jacked up in order to pay for these miscreant's abuses. Such is the fate of apathetic citizens who don't keep close tabs on their elected officials!

Whether the town officials like it or not, the county is forever bound by contract and law to vigorously uphold their agreements, and therefore they have no choice but to fight the town's attempts to unlawfully regulate the airport.

Of course, the town's only goal is to harass the county and cost them (i.e. ALL taxpayers) as much money and effort as possible to pursue their personal vendetta against the many pilots who use Valkaria. However, what they don't tell anyone is that no amount of invalid local ordinances, legal threats, nasty letters, editorials, or empty political rhetoric can or will change federal law on the issue.

In fact, it's specifically because of the actions of small-minded town officials like those in Grant-Valkaria and Malabar and other towns here and there that forced the federal government long ago to exert their absolute authority over aviation. Every single such short-sighted, misguided attack upon aviation has only served to strengthen the fed's protection of this irreplaceable national resource.

A Long, But Very Informative, Read

The full document containing the Director's Determination is below. The full case is FAA Docket No. 16-04-01, "Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Members: Bill Bahlke, Reagan L. DuBose, Howard G. SOloff, Laurence K. Mellgren, David Watkins, Joseph Haughey, Robert Kwass, Herbert Jacobs, and Levent Erkmen v. City of Pompano Beach, FL".

Click to open Main file:    The FAA Director's full determination in this case. (PDF File, 3.5 MB)