Peoria staff say city will not pursue or market proposed air-park after feasibility, cite cost and land constraints

Peoria Deputy City Manager Mike Faust told the City Council on Jan. 14 that the city will not pursue or market an air-park in the study area after completing a feasibility and site-selection effort.

The council heard a detailed presentation from Patrick Taylor of Kaufman Associates, who summarized a year-and-a-half technical review that identified two candidate sites north of the city and evaluated airspace, environmental sensitivity, costs and compatibility. Faust said the study shows an airport “is feasible” but that relocation of transmission lines, floodplain issues, and land-use constraints mean the city will not actively pursue or market an airport at this time.

The feasibility work combined aviation demand forecasts, FAA design criteria, environmental screening and a GIS-based site-ranking matrix. Taylor said both candidate sites could support instrument approach procedures and meet FAA design standards; he reported total site rankings of 88 for Site 1 and 77 for Site 2. The consultants estimated an initial build-out cost in broad terms — about $150 million for Site 1 and nearly $200 million for Site 2 for a 5,600-foot initial runway — and between $250 million and $300 million to complete a 7,600-foot ultimate configuration for a long-term runway.

Faust emphasized two policy constraints that helped drive the decision not to pursue: the need to apply land-use overlays that would restrict adjacent development, and the State Land Department’s fiduciary objective to obtain highest-and-best value for state trust land. He said those constraints could force the city to acquire additional adjacent parcels and that the previously cited $7 million cost to relocate power lines is likely much too low. “On the surface the data clearly says an airport is feasible,” Faust said, “site 1 supports a conceptual airport,” and then told the council, “based on that the city is no longer going to pursue nor are we marketing an airport in this area.”

Staff said the study found initial aviation demand well above feasibility thresholds and that a new airport would fill a regional gap in the northwest Phoenix area and provide capacity relief for nearby fields. The presentation noted airspace complexity near Luke Air Force Base and the need for pilots to coordinate with Luke, Deer Valley or the Phoenix TRACON but described those as operational, not prohibitive, issues.

Faust also summarized public costs to date and expected returns: the city has spent about $553,000 on the airport analysis across FY24–FY25; staff said that investment contributed to an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the State Land Department the council approved Dec. 17 that they estimate could enable more than $500 million in reimbursable infrastructure and long-term tax revenues tied to development of the Peoria Innovation Core. Staff said they will post the site-selection report and a cover letter on the city website and will not ask for additional airport-related study funds in FY26.

Discussion versus decisions: council members asked technical and policy questions during the study-session presentation; staff described next steps for posting documents and advancing the infrastructure work for the Peoria Innovation Core. No formal motion or ordinance to pursue site acquisition or airport development was made at the meeting; staff characterized the action as a program-level decision not to pursue or market an air-park at this time.

What happens next: city staff will post the full report and a cover letter, advance entitlement work for the Peoria Innovation Core infrastructure under the existing IGA, and continue other economic-development land-acquisition efforts unrelated to airport construction. Faust said a private party could still attempt to develop an airport by pursuing a special-use permit under City Code (chapter 21-8-57(g)), navigating the State Land Department process and prevailing at a public auction, but the city is not inviting or marketing such a project.

Sources: presentation by Patrick Taylor, Kaufman Associates; remarks by Deputy City Manager Mike Faust; study findings summarized at the Jan. 14 study session.