EVERETT – A Denver attorney specializing in airport law painted a somewhat brighter picture Wednesday for those hoping to prevent regularly scheduled passenger service at Paine Field than he did in a recent report on the issue.
Still, there are no guarantees, said Peter Kirsch, a partner in the firm Kaplan Kirsch Rockwell. Kirsch addressed a panel charged with updating an agreement guiding use of the Snohomish County-run airport.
Airports can’t be forced to spend tax money on terminals, security or other means of support for airlines, Kirsch said.
“Physical constraints are more realistic than the legal constraints,” Kirsch said.
Federal laws on airport use, he said, are “complex, onerous, time-consuming and wonderful for lawyers.”
Paine Field does have the room for passenger service, he said. If an airline or airlines were to come to the county and offer to pay for a terminal, there’s nothing that would stop them from doing so, he said after talking with the panel.
But in today’s depressed air travel market, such a scenario is unlikely, he said.
“It’s not particularly realistic in 2006, but times change,” Kirsch said. “That didn’t used to be uncommon, but now it is very uncommon.”
A terminal isn’t necessary for the type of air service most likely to come to Paine Field, he said. “It’s not 747s to Japan, it’s Horizon (Air) to Portland.”
An airline could lease an acre of airport property and put a triple-wide trailer on it, he said.
“Is a terminal essential? No. Is a terminal very useful? Yes. Would someone come in to operate without a terminal? Maybe yes,” Kirsch said.
But most airlines don’t operate without a terminal, he said.
On the flip side, if the county were to choose to encourage passenger flights, building a terminal and offering breaks on landing fees would help. Kirsch said. Again, no guarantee.
“There are some airports with big terminals and no service,” he said.
While no proposal to add passenger flights to Paine Field is on the table, some people in the business community have promoted the idea as an economic development tool.
The Private Enterprise Coalition of Snohomish County, a county business group, has come out in favor of limited passenger service at Paine Field. Kirsch’s report put the group in a bit of a bind, group president Tom Hoban said. Hoban is a member of the Paine Field review panel.
Kirsch said that once service is started at an airport, the airport can’t legally pick and choose among carriers. Hoban’s group issued a position paper last week supporting regional service but not national or international flights.
“It occurred to me our (group’s) position conflicts with law, because we can’t limit it,” Hoban said. He said the group would go back and revise its position.
Still, “I’m encouraged,” Hoban said after Kirsch’s talk. “I believe there are some ways to have some level of control through policies.”
Limiting terminal size could have an effect, Kirsch said.
Opponents to passenger service, who say it would have a detrimental effect on surrounding communities, also found encouragement in Kirsch’s summary.
“I think there are tools we can use,” Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said, such as the physical limitations that would not run afoul of federal law.
Kirsch said cities bordering airports often pass land-use laws aimed at discouraging airport growth, such as regulations prohibiting hotels in the area.
While controversial, “it happens all the time,” he said.
An airport can try to restrict flights based on the law, but it has to have very specific, justifiable reasons for doing so, Kirsch said. He likened it to “threading the needle.”
In fact, no airport has even tried this approach since 1990, when stricter laws went into effect, Kirsch said.
In another approach, an airport could refuse to obtain a certificate that allows it to accommodate passenger flights. The federal government has said it can require an airport to obtain that certificate if an airline requests it. Kirsch said he isn’t so sure.
“When a lawyer can’t answer a question, they say, ‘That’s an interesting question,’ ” Kirsch said. “This falls into that category.”
Regarding the 1979 document that discourages passenger flights at Paine Field, Kirsch said it’s worth updating to make it clearer and to state a position for the public. But it’s not legally binding, he said.
“It’s a policy document. It’s not a regulatory document,” he said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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