Jet plan for Queen Creek airpark grounded

Aviation aficionados won’t be able to land jets or helicopters at Queen Creek’s Pegasus Airpark anytime soon.

Representatives of the airpark, a private airport that allows property owners to land aircraft and keep them in  hangars in the middle of the neighborhood, had asked the Town Council to let the facility accommodate very light jets and helicopters in addition to the piston engine planes already allowed.

But after about 2 1/2 hours of discussion, presentations, public comment on both sides of the issue and votes on two separate motions, the council did not approve any part of the measure with the two-thirds vote necessary to change the land use.

That raises serious safety concerns, said Michael Tragarz, a longtime Valley pilot and consultant for Pegasus.

There are several safety concerns with aircraft from so many different nearby airports, and those trying to avoid the airspace for nearby airports, flying over Pegasus, he said. Allowing helicopters would let the airport publish rules regarding low-flying aircraft, which would both alleviate many of those concerns and reduce noise for nearby residents because planes and helicopters would be forced to fly higher than they currently are, he said.

The airpark has no power to regulate that traffic unless helicopters are allowed to land, Tragarz said. And since that authority was not granted, he believes the town could be liable in a lawsuit if an accident happens.

“We’re going to be pointing to (the town) saying, we brought forward a plan that would mitigate that,” he said.

However, many of the 11 people who spoke opposing the measure suggested the town or airpark work with other nearby airports to take care of flight patterns regardless of whether jets or helicopters were allowed.

And most of them weren’t convinced allowing jets and helicopters would actually reduce noise around their homes, like the airpark representatives said it would.

“You have an obligation to the general public, not the aviation hobbies of a few,” Orchard Ranch resident Nancy Henkel told the council.

Fourteen people spoke in favor of the change.

A motion to allow jets and helicopters at the airpark ultimately failed on a 2-4 vote, with Councilman Jeff Brown and Mayor Art Sanders the only two favoring the measure.

A second motion to allow jets but not helicopters got a majority approval with a 4-2 vote, with council members Craig Barnes and Joyce Hildebrandt voting no. But since Vice Mayor Gail Barney was absent, the measure would have needed a 5-1 vote to get the two-thirds majority necessary to pass this particular change, said Town Manager John Kross.

Airpark officials will try to implement some of the flight plans it has developed for jets, but will have to make some modifications with nearby airports since the measure didn’t pass in its entirety, Tragarz said. He also said the group hoped to work with the town on their own plan to direct low-flying aircraft.