EVERETT — The Arlington City Council denied the request to waive the upcoming Arlington SkyFest’s rental fees for the first time in 10 years.
On July 21, the City Council voted 3-2 to deny a land use fee waiver of $6,874.78 for the upcoming SkyFest event on Aug. 15-17. This is the rental payment for 59.4 acres across three days. The Federal Aviation Administration allows reduced or free rent for these types of aviation events.
Over the previous nine years, city council members waived fees closer to $15,000 with a recommendation from the Arlington Airport Commission, a council agenda bill said.
This year, the airport commission recommended to deny the request, according to Arlington Airport Director Marty Wray.
“There’s a level of frustration amongst commissioners,” Wray said during the city council meeting. “Over the last two years, they’ve been asking for numbers or amount of attendees and that sort of thing as the event’s gotten smaller. We have not received those numbers.”
The event used to last five days. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they reduced the number to three days to comply with public-gathering restrictions. That includes a clean-up and check-out day on Sunday.
Event organizers kept the new format because people liked it, Executive Director Barbara Tolbert said in an interview. The event now includes more booths and community activities.
There is a desire within the airport commission, according to Arlington City Council member Bichele Blythe, for SkyFest to go “back to the way it used to be.”
“They just feel that it was leaving the aviation arena and becoming more of a show,” she said.
Tolbert disagrees, she said. “It’s an air show that now includes more innovative shows that displays the future of air. Like the drone show.”
When asked about the Airport Commission’s requests for event data, Tolbert said those types of requests would need to come from the Airport Director.
“We looked through our emails,” she said. “We didn’t find any copies of those requests.”
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay
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