Cleveland council reviews draft 20‑year airport layout plan emphasizing hangars, terminal options and safety upgrades

At a May 19 workshop, the Cleveland City Council heard a presentation and public Q&A on a draft 20‑year Airport Layout Plan (ALP) for the municipal airport from airport manager Eric Lindo and Wolpert consultants.

The ALP, presented by Wolpert lead planner Tony Davis, lays out options for future landside and airside development, including additional hangar capacity, a proposed terminal relocation with room for a restaurant and public amenities, and taxiway and apron changes aimed at improving safety and meeting regulatory design standards. "An airport layout plan, it's a 20 year vision for the airport," Davis said, describing the ALP as a planning document that inventories existing facilities, projects future demand and organizes a capital improvement program.

Davis told the council the ALP is also a funding prerequisite: "It is required that the airport have a current and valid and approved airport layout plan set" to secure future FAA and TxDOT grants, he said. The consultants described forecasting efforts used to identify the airport's "critical aircraft"—the aircraft type that drives separation, runway and taxiway design—anticipating potential transition from small twin‑engine planes to small corporate jets over time.

On the airside, Davis said the runway length and orientation are adequate and recommended maintaining the existing 75‑foot runway width. The plan calls for eliminating direct apron‑to‑runway parking so a pilot must make a physical turn before entering the runway, a change Davis described as a situational awareness safety measure. "We want to mandate that a pilot make a physical turn before getting to the runway," he said.

Landside concepts in the draft include space for several hangar types (connected box hangars and T‑hangars), apron expansions, a controlled access gate to separate based‑aircraft areas from public access, and potential acquisition of adjacent property to increase developable land. Davis said hangar construction is most often privately funded but could be built by the city and operated as a revenue source; apron and taxiway upgrades are likelier candidates for state and federal funding.

Council members and attendees asked questions about specific features. Rachel Hall asked whether a new terminal would include an air traffic control tower; Davis said it would not and that the airport is far below the activity level that typically requires a manned tower—"nowhere near" the roughly 150,000–200,000 operations per year cited as a typical threshold. A participant asked about tree clearance on the west side of the runway and instrument approaches; Davis said trees would require clearing for development and that the plan recommends RNAV (GPS) approaches with roughly 1‑mile visibility.

Davis described the ALP's final deliverables as a signed drawing set and a narrative implementation chapter that will include phased cost estimates and funding sources. He said the team will incorporate input from the workshop into the implementation chapter, then submit the ALP to TxDOT and the FAA for review and signature. Project materials are posted at clevelandmunicipalalpupdate.com, the team said.

No formal council action on the plan was taken at the workshop. The session concluded after public questions and an acknowledgment of the airport board’s input; councilman Julius Buckley moved to adjourn and Rachel Hall seconded.

Next steps: consultants will revise the draft ALP with feedback from the workshop, complete implementation cost and phasing details, and submit the package to TxDOT and the FAA for review and potential minor changes before final adoption.