Recently, Snohomish County paid a law firm more than $18,000 to study whether the federal government could require Paine Field to accept air passenger traffic.
Now, the question is being asked whether the state can force Snohomish County, which runs Paine Field, to allow airlines to use the airport.
A panel studying rules governing use of the airport is scheduled to discuss the issue today, but the answer seems clear.
No, it can’t.
“The county is the owner of the airport, and as long as they comply with the law, it’s up to them what to do with the airport,” said Christie Baumel, a senior planner for the county.
Baumel has been studying the issue and will present her findings to the panel today.
The guiding policy for Paine Field, adopted in 1979 as an agreement between the county and nearby communities, discourages passenger service at the airport.
The review panel, composed of 12 people from local governments and business appointed last year by County Executive Aaron Reardon, is updating the agreement. The group plans to have its work done by mid-December.
Reardon’s creation of the panel was prompted by community backlash against a county business study that said air passenger service at Paine Field would be good for the local economy.
The state’s clout in airport matters is less than that of the federal government, which provides money to airports, officials said.
Along with planning agencies such as the Puget Sound Regional Council, the state issues general policies and guidelines for land use around airports, said John Sibold, director of the state Department of Transportation’s aviation division.
These include no-brainer rules such as not allowing skyscrapers to be built near the ends of airport runways, he said.
Other than that, “we don’t really have any legal authority when it comes to telling local jurisdictions what they can and can’t do,” said Sibold, who works out of an office in Arlington.
The state and regional council also provide guidelines for local jurisdictions in their creation of long-range land-use plans, Baumel said.
If an airport operator were to violate the guidelines, an appeal could be filed with the state Growth Management Hearings Board, she said. But these policies don’t address, for example, what type of air traffic an airport can accept, she said.
The state Department of Transportation, at the behest of the Legislature, recently began a study of long-term air traffic needs.
The state expects to have some recommendations ready for discussion next summer, with a full report not scheduled until 2009.
Even if the study were to conclude that a certain airport or area should have airline service, Sibold said the state’s role would be one of facilitator, not dictator.
The approach, he said, would be to “get all the players at the table and decide what are the next steps.”
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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