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Fairfield public hearing reveals sharp split between airpark proponents and neighbors
Summary
Public comment at the March 19 Planning Commission meeting featured sustained, opposing testimony: airport advocates emphasized public benefits and legal protections; neighbors and large landowners argued noise, overflight and property‑rights harms and threatened litigation. The split helped prompt commission delay on the AMUZ ordinance.
Dozens of residents, landowners, pilots and attorneys spoke during two hours of public comment March 19 over West Desert Airpark's status and the town’s proposed zoning changes. Statements ranged from detailed legal objections to emotional appeals about property rights and noise.
Alina Pringle, identified in the record as West Desert Airpark manager, disputed multiple factual findings in the AMUZ draft and submitted a written opposition arguing the airport has FAA public‑use designation (2018) and has operated continuously since 2002. "The recitals are not harmless preamble... they contain multiple statements that are factually false, misleading, and legally incorrect," Pringle said in remarks entered to the record.
Neighboring landowners and residents pushed back. Brent Ault and a group of Ault family landowners said they do not oppose historic private airport operations but oppose unauthorized current use and expansion that might affect property rights. Written public comment read by others alleged the town and airpark failed to provide required hearings for the airport’s transition to public use and characterized the overlay as an uncompensated taking; one email threatened class‑action litigation if the town did not act to protect residents.
Legal and technical objections also featured prominently. Attorneys for Intermountain Regional Landfill and North Pointe urged the commission to prohibit instrument approaches, jets and other operations within a defined overlay, and asked that any overlay be narrowly tailored so it does not interfere with existing permits. Conversely, aviation advocates and pilots warned that caps on annual operations, limits on based aircraft, bans on runway lighting and restrictions to VFR/daytime could conflict with federal FAA authority over airspace and grant assurances linked to state or federal funding.
No single factual record resolved these disputes in the hearing. Commissioners cited conflicting claims — especially about the airport’s public‑use date, runway funding and actual operations counts — when they declined to forward the AMUZ ordinance to the Town Council. The dispute over facts and legal authority will be part of the staff and legal review before the next meeting.
What happens next: the commission scheduled a March 23 follow‑up session for additional review and evidence. Stakeholders who provided data (flight counts, tax records, or wildlife assessments) or substantive redlines to the draft were directed to ensure those materials are in the public record for the commission and Town Council to consider.
