Despite Lewis County’s letter of interest in expanding Toledo’s airport, Commissioner Gary Stamper has for months told angry residents that the site has no chance of being selected by the state’s Commercial Aviation Coordination Committee (CACC) and turned into a Sea-Tac-size facility.
Instead, Stamper has contended that the county threw its hat in the ring to acquire funding for other, smaller projects at the airport.
But so far, opponents haven’t bought it, pointing to CACC’s shortlist of six potential sites for major expansion, which includes Toledo’s South Lewis County Airport, also known as the Ed Carlson Memorial Field. And as criticism continues to flow into Stamper’s inbox, the county is now looking to rescind its support.
“My concerns are that I’m spending a lot of time on this and I need to be spending more time on other projects. So that’s where I’m at at this point in the road,” Stamper said Tuesday.
Instead, commissioners are now looking to replace their letter with one voicing their support to have Toledo’s airport considered for those smaller projects. While CACC is planning to identify one site for a major Sea-Tac-sized airport necessary to support 2050’s projected air travel demand, it’s also looking to expand two to three existing facilities to supplement “general aviation capacity” in Washington state.
“General aviation capacity,” said CACC Chair David Fleckenstein, largely refers to increased hangar capacity for private owners of small, one or twin-engine aircraft.
And, like Stamper has told residents in the past, there’s some major funding opportunities out there that the Toledo airport could benefit from.
At a meeting with county commissioners, Fleckenstein discussed the $5 million Community Aviation Revitalization Loan Program that began last year. While all the funding has already been allocated, CACC is hoping the program will be revamped this year by the Legislature.
The program, Fleckenstein said, is one of the “key things we’re counting on to address general aviation capacity in the state.”
Fleckenstein also echoed Stamper’s assessment: that despite being included on CACC’s list of six locations for a major airport, Toledo simply isn’t a realistic option.
The airport is too small to support major commercial capacity, he told commissioners, with a runway too short for large planes or jets. Plus, the commercial industry, which he identified as Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, UPS and FedEx, “agree that South Lewis County is too far away from the bulk of the population base within Washington state.”
Those stakeholders, Fleckenstein said, don’t feel like Toledo’s airport would be a “good investment.”
Fleckenstein also discussed a bill making its way through the state Legislature that will give CACC more time to identify those airports. The bill would also require CACC to explore “community benefits agreements,” which could, for example, include local noise reduction agreements, according to Fleckenstein. The provision may quell the fears of Toledo residents, who have raised concerns that expansion would mean more noise over homes and farmland.
Toledo is not the only community to dig its heels in after being identified by CACC for potential expansion. When a location near Littlerock was similarly added to CACC’s shortlist, community opposition was voiced in Thurston County. Pierce County officials also balked at the idea when the Tacoma Narrows Airport was included on CACC’s list, and the Gig Harbor City Council unanimously voted to urge the county to oppose major expansion.
On Wednesday, Stamper said small expansions, including more hangar space and increased capacity for small aircraft “is the slot that we want to be in.”
“We want to emphasize, there will be no large aircraft coming into Lewis County,” he said.
