Hangar owners, veterans accuse Clark County aviation of seeking to seize privately built hangars

Dozens of hangar owners, veterans and aviation-business operators addressed the Clark County Board of Commissioners during an extended public-comment period to oppose proposed changes to airport lease policies. Speakers said the county's consultant and the Clark County Department of Aviation (CCDOA) are pushing a model that would convert long-standing ground leases into facility leases and add reversionary clauses that would transfer privately financed hangars to the county when leases expire.

"I'd like to oppose spending $230,000 for a lobbyist for Washington DC because we have businesses not being taken care of locally here," said Tim Ross, who entered a petition asking the commission to terminate the employment of Aviation Director Jim Chrisley. Ross told the commission the consultant presented a plan "that the airport would make more money if they took ownership of our hangars and then rented them back to us." He repeated the group's demand that the county honor prior commitments to negotiate in good faith.

Multiple hangar owners described the financial harm they say would follow. "This reversion language turns that investment into a loss," said Todd Graves, explaining that he bought his hangar with the expectation of lease renewal and would lose the value of his private investment under reversion. Retired colonels, flight-instruction instructors, and small-business operators warned the commission that converting ownership would shrink local aviation training and safety capacity, harming medevac, youth-mentoring and charity flights.

Speakers disputed the consultant's FAA-related justification. "FAA order 5190Point6C ... does not mandate converting ground leases into facility leases," said Nancy Frank, who urged the commission to direct the Department of Aviation to offer long-term ground-lease renewals (she requested at least 30-year terms). Other commenters asked the commission to put the policy under direct commission oversight, to produce written guarantees that existing private hangars will not be taken without fair compensation, and to include rural Perkins Field owners in the process.

The commission did not take immediate action on the lease policy during the meeting. Several speakers asked for written commitments and for the county manager and commission to intervene with the Department of Aviation and the consultant so that private investments would be preserved rather than converted into county-owned assets.