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Airpark Owners

PropMan

Well Known Member
I would like to hear from those who live on their own personal airpark, or I guess have a runway in their yard.

I am developing a small airpark on a lake in central Texas and am having thoughts of keeping it privately owned and just selling the lots as lake front property instead of Airpark with lake front, with a possibility of a neighbor use agreement. I have an RV6 and will have more than adequate length (3000ft). I just starting having doubts about a HOA and all the politics that come with it. All is done, I just haven't sold any lots thus, am not committed
to the restrictions yet.

Those who have or had their own personal airstrip please advise on these questions:

1. Do you have flyins at your home?
2. What sort of Liability insurance do you carry?
3. Do you allow neighbors to use the strip, and or have a written agreement with any?
4. What has you experience been with neighbors(non aviation types)?
5. Would you do it again?
 
Something to consider........

They are documented cases where the landowner re-tasked the runway to another purpose. I've even heard of where each property owner was deeded 1/x of the runway and the new owner of the lot in the middle erected a fence across the runway. Another example is what will your heirs do with the property after you're gone?

If I was to purchase a lot with an airpark, the runway needs to been owned by a separate enterprise that is jointly owned by all the landowners so that a minority can't cause problems for the majority.

Yes, that takes a whole lot of effort to set up correctly, but it is the only way to protect everyone's interest. There are usually several good forums on this subject at OSH that you may be interested in attending.
 
People bring politics with them, so I am afraid there is no getting around that. If you want to create an airpark you will just have to live with it.

To echo the previous post, I can't see anyone buying a property without it's original use guaranteed.

Having just been elected to the HOA board of my airpark after throwing the old board out I understand why people can lament HOA's. I think the major problem is how the BY-Laws are written in the first place. Keep them simple, plain, and iron clad clear. Limit board power and make all major decisions by majority rule.
 
If I were going to move into your subdivision and runway access mattered to me I would want to see the deed restrictions written in such a way that I would NEVER have to worry about, the condition of the runway, the ownership of the runway and obviously my ability to use the runway. The condition of the runway is the tricky one.

In Texas the easement laws are pretty hard on landowners if you allow access to somebody, you will probably never be able to take that access away from them as long as they continue to use it. Especially right of way easements. (Which this is) I own half of the taxiway in front of my property with no deed restrictions governing it and if I were to put up a fence I'd be sued in about an hour and would be ordered to take it down, and probably have to pay their costs and fees.

Our airpark has probably seen the worst politics and problems of any that I have ever heard of. If you'd like to carry on a separate conversation on how we got where we are and ways that I think you could avoid these kinds of problems let me know. If you don't do it right people will curse your name 20 years from now.

If somebody asked me about buying property in your subdivision and all they were going to get was a "neighbor use agreement" I'd tell them to run away and don't look back. It needs to be properly restricted with a proper HOA and it need to be done right. Almost right is worse than not at all. Political problems come from differing expectations produced by unknowns and subjective rules, costs, etc. If these issues are well known, written down and specific then there will be fewer political problems.
 
Airpark experience

Frank,
I lived in a very nice NC airpark for 10 years, and served on the board during most of those years. I am very good friends with the original developer, and unfortunately, I had to sell out for some economic reasons. What I can tell you is probably very much what others have to say from experience also. The original concept was : Gated community,25-35 large lots (5 acres), small lake, and 2500 ft turf strip. At the time (80's), it was never anticipated anyone but pilots would be interested...and it was in the country.The lots didnt sell too fast, and the developers sold with loose by-laws to "non-pilots" and actually split out some larger tracts. Eventually, all lots where sold, and there was a 50/50 mix of each, and things were pretty good,all playing well together. Unfortunately, non-pilots didnt have to pay Airpark dues, but did pay Homeowners dues. This made costs of runway maintenance fluctuate with Pilots only, while others enjoyed the beautiful gated airport. Then, the inevitable, non-pilot gone bad neighbors that suddenly didnt like planes taxiing on the roads,flying over their house ect...and the legal stuff started, and the visits from the FAA, and the visits from the police..I think you get the idea. Dont get me wrong, I have never lived in a better place, and wish I was still there. If I can give any advice at all, it would be that ALL residents live to a very well documented set of HOA by-laws that are well thought out to protect those who fly , and have been looked at from every legal standpoint to be enforcable. DO NOT compromise !! Its hard to imagine loosing the ability to fly from an airpark you built, but it could happen. By the way, the place I am speaking about is all calm now, at great cost and some damaged friendships...and I can still fly over and visit my old neighbors.
 
build yourself a runway and start using it. Then after the airstrip is established, sell the lake lots. Give these new buyers the option of a "Thru the Fence" lease to access the runway. This way the airport is a known entity next to the lake lot being purchased. The lake owners have the option of "renting" runway access, but don't really have a say in how it is run. You will be responsible for the maintenance and insurance. Set the price of the TTF leases to offset your costs.
 
People bring politics with them, so I am afraid there is no getting around that. If you want to create an airpark you will just have to live with it.

To echo the previous post, I can't see anyone buying a property without it's original use guaranteed.

Having just been elected to the HOA board of my airpark after throwing the old board out I understand why people can lament HOA's. I think the major problem is how the BY-Laws are written in the first place. Keep them simple, plain, and iron clad clear. Limit board power and make all major decisions by majority rule.
I echo this profoundly! Especially the last sentence.

Limit board power and make all major decisions by majority rule.
Our private airport has 21 lots associated with the runway. Each lot owns a portion of the runway that their property touches. We have other surrounding property that is owned by others not affiliated with the airport so is not officially part of the airport association. These properties abut up to the edge of the runway.

In the past we have had some of these properties come up for sale. Pilots who are interested in owning property on the airport have inquired into purchasing these properties for the purpose of attempting to have that property annexed to become part of the airport association. It has never happened. There is a clause in the Restrictive Covenants for the airport property that states no changes to the restrictions can be made without 100% approval by ALL the property owners.

We have battled this for years trying to get the remaining property surrounding the airport associated with the airport to no avail. We will never get 100% approval by the existing home owners. Because this 100% approval clause exists the only recourse for change is to take the issue to court. To date, no one has gone that route.

From our experiences I will suggest you make sure your covenants allow for changes as needed that do not cause these type of road blocks.
 
In my opinion, even majority rule isn't enough for major decisions. It's wise to force something near consensus for big changes or big expenses.

I live on a small airpark (11 share holders), with income levels of the owners about as widely spread as you can imagine.

The runway is owned by a corp, with each home owner holding an equal number of shares in the corp. The runway's existence cannot be dissolved except by unanimous vote of stock holders. Expenditures over a very low threshold require 80% approval. Shares in the corp can only be held by those owning property 'tied' to the runway property. Individually owned property (home/hanger) can be sold to anyone, but the corp has 1st option on the re-purchase of the runway corp shares tied to that property at par value (a very low number).

Changing the by-laws require an 80% approval.

Over the years, we've found that pushing decisions closer to the consensus level has really helped reduce problems & helps protect everybody, especially those with limited resources.

If you're planning a high-end type of development, some of the above probably wouldn't apply.

Charlie
 
Thanks for the replys everyone. I have decided to keep the airstrip private for now and allow others to use it if they wish. I know this will deter most folks but this is how I want it.
Building an airstrip is sortof like building my plane. Built like I want!:cool:
So, Anyone interested in lake front property on Lake Limestone in Texas. Give me a call
 
Airpark

I also looked into building an airpark. I had a contract on some property with an option period. During that option period I met with a Real Estate attorney and as the attorney described to me setting up an HOA with the ownership of the runway in the hands of the property owners....I started having second thoughts. I build custom homes in the area, and have had enough experiences with HOA's to know the stress level would not be worth it for me. Instead I found a smaller piece of property to do my own private runway. I could see that project quickly becoming a full time job, which I already have. Good luck if you decide to do it. A through the fence deal sounds like a good alternative. I keep my plane on a private strip now, until I finish my runway. There are a couple of through the fence deals here, and it is working fine.
 
Kyle,
I recall you discussion. Yes, it can be a full time job. That's where I'm lucky and have enough lake front to sell some and pay contractors to do the heavy work. Thru the fence is how I'm starting and if there is enough interest I'll create an LLC and sell shares to those who would like to use the Airstrip and limit our liability.
 
I have decided to keep the airstrip private for now and allow others to use it if they wish.

Make sure that they DO NOT have access to the runway from their property. If they do and you ever decide to disallow runway use you will probably run into some serious legal trouble and from what I have read you will LOSE.

I'm not an attorney but I have studied this a little bit lately because I am basically on the other side of the issue with our runway. Check with an attorney before you give them access. It would be worth a couple hundred bucks.

Easement issues are one of the most common causes of law suits in this great state.
 
Keep in mind that even the "ironclad" and "clear" language you decide upon today will likely get challenged in the near future. On our airpark, I was involved with the development of the language and I can tell you that even among those of us that were there originally, we have disagreement about the "intent" only 10 years later. No matter how clear, somebody will eventually pick at it and find something to argue about. Look at the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution for a good example.

At any rate, the ultimate would be to own my own strip outright and not deal with other people. The second choice would be to develop an airpark - then MOVE to my own private airport.
 
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