Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority To Buy $285,600 Plot Near Pangborn Memorial Airport

Aug. 25—WENATCHEE — Pangborn Memorial Airport will soon have a bit more clearance for planes at the north end of its runway.

The Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority commissioners voted last week to enter into a purchase and sale agreement with landowner Christopher L. Lytle for a $285,600 triangular-shaped piece of land off Grant Road near Stark Avenue.

The 4.76-acre plot was half of a 9.52-acre square the port attempted to buy before last year when it installed a Medium-intensity Approach Lighting System with Runway alignment indicator lights (MALSR) system. The square lot was deemed necessary to the project, according to port documents, and is in the Runway Protection Zone.

Lytle didn't want to sell the whole square to the port, so to finish the project, the port elected not to proceed with a condemnation action on the square and bought one triangular portion, port documents said. Lytle has since changed his mind about the other portion.

"This is absolutely directly in our clear zone, so my philosophy is any time you can buy property in the approach of your main runway, you buy it," said port CEO Jim Kuntz.

The property was appraised at $221,000, but Kuntz said Lytle wanted to sell the property for at least $60,000 per acre, $285,600 total.

The Federal Aviation Administration will pay most of the cost, Kuntz said, which could equal $218,790. The FAA likely will pay 90% of fair market value for the property, he said, plus another 10% of the 90% amount ($198,900 + $19,890). The port would cover the rest out of pocket, around $66,810.

"It's $66,000 more out of taxpayers dollars," said commissioner JC Baldwin. "When you're insisting on higher prices, you're taking it from your neighbors."

The land has certain restrictions due to its proximity to the airport, such as not developing anything that might attract wildlife, Kuntz said, but he was unclear what exactly the port could build.

"We haven't figured that out yet, but we have a willing seller of property (in our clear zone), let's buy it and make sure that we don't have incompatible uses in the future with somebody else buying it," he said.

The port could potentially make money off the land, he added, but will have more discussions with Lytle to determine what those are since Lytle has more land in which the port might be interested.

Commissioners were in favor of purchasing the land but also concerned about whether it could be turned into an investment for the community instead of lying vacant.

"It's what we've done on the other end of the runway, where we purchased property at the end and then we turned around and leased ... We've got some orchard leases in some places. There's other opportunities ... on this end, as well," said Trent Moyers, port director of airports. "We do want to be able to control what happens out there."

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