Official rejects skydivers' drop site.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

CRESWELL - Wright Brothers Skydiving cannot use a farmer's field near the airport here as a landing zone for its customers, a Lane County hearings officer ruled Friday.

Company owner David Wright had requested a temporary use permit for the 42 acres, with the support of land owner Frank Clack, after losing longtime city permission to land skydivers on a "drop zone" at the eastern edge of Creswell's Hobby Field.

Competitor Urban Moore, whose Eugene Skydivers also lost use of the drop zone, won permission Monday from the same hearings official to land customers on another farmer's land several miles north of the airport.

In Wright's case, however, county hearings official Gary Darnielle cited safety concerns raised by the city of Creswell.

While Moore's new drop zone is far removed from the city's airport, Wright's landing spot would require dropping skydivers through airspace for one of Creswell Airport's two runways, Darnielle said. And dropping up to 32 skydivers per day on the Clack property could compromise its use as an emergency landing area for planes taking off from the airport's other, most-used runway, he said.

Wright could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. He has until July 30 to appeal the denial to the Lane County Board of Commissioners.

In his ruling, Darnielle said he was not persuaded by Wright's citing of two previous cases, in which FAA officials overruled municipal airport managers who had prohibited skydiving in a traffic pattern. He agreed that airports receiving federal grants may not discriminate against valid aeronautical activities, including skydiving. But an airport owner may place reasonable limitations on such activities and is not required to permit those creating a safety hazard, he said.

"I do not agree with the applicant that the two FAA determinations necessarily imply that his operation is safe, or that (Creswell) is likely to have its restrictions overturned on an appeal to the FAA," he said.

Darnielle agreed with the city that granting Wright the requested permit would "unacceptably intensify" the low-level agricultural activity now approved for Clack's land.

"Aircraft emergencies are a fact of life and regulations are imposed ...to limit development around airports in order to minimize the potential for property damage and human casualty," Darnielle wrote. "Anything that diminishes the ability of otherwise suitable property to provide emergency landing support is adverse to the safety of the public and to airport operations."

Wright's application was supported, however, by nine other Creswell Airport pilots and business owners.

Darnielle rejected the city's argument that safety also would be compromised by Wright's use of nearby Dale Kuni Road to retrieve skydivers and transport them back to the Wright Brothers hangar along the west side of the airport's main runway. The activity would add at most 16 trips per day on the rural road, which already averages 460 vehicle trips daily. In his application, Wright sought permission to use the Clack property as a drop zone four days per week, during daylight, with a maximum eight jumps per day.

Darnielle also rejected noise concerns about skydive operations raised by area resident Bob Meyers, saying aircraft noise is regulated by the FAA, not local jurisdictions.

Wright, like Moore, scrambled to find an alternative drop zone after Creswell withdrew permission to use airport land last year. A regional Federal Aviation Administration official backed Creswell's decision to halt the landings until the skydiver companies and airport officials could reach agreement on a new safety plan. The United States Parachute Association has appealed the case to the national FAA office.