Steamboat Pilot & Today

The Routt County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved the first phase of private hangar development at Yampa Valley Regional Airport.

The hangar development plans now will go to the Hayden Planning Commission.

If all goes as planned, the hangars could be built by next year or sooner, YVRA Aviation Director Jim Parker said.

The hangars provide income to the airport through the lease payments of individuals and businesses renting them, as well as increased fuel sales and other services, he said.

People and businesses now own larger planes than in the past, he said, including Boeing 737 jets. The hangars at YVRA will give those people and businesses a place for their planes.

Currently, private planes are parked outside at YVRA. On crowded days, the planes have to be parked on a taxiway in the area proposed for hangar development.

The number of private planes at the airport varies, Parker said. The largest number of planes is seen during ski season, when sometimes a half-dozen to a dozen planes are parked at one time.

The hangars are planned for the east side of the airport, Parker said. The first phase of development includes plans for three large hangars, which usually are about 120-by-120 feet, as well as eight smaller hangars, which are usually about 60-by-60 feet.

There also will be one hangar for storage of fuel and other goods used to service private planes. Eventually, all operations serving private planes will be moved to the private hangar area.

Phase one of the general aviation development plan also includes the option of building an additional four small hangars and one large hangar.

More than 80 hangars of varying sizes eventually could be built in the area, Parker said. In the case that all hangars are built, Routt County Road 51A would have to be shifted to accommodate the development.

Only the first phase is being considered at this time.

The plans show the option of eventually building hangars for small planes, but YVRA does not encourage building those because it could compete with the Steamboat Springs Airport, Parker said. Rather, the airports are generally managed to complement each other and serve different needs.

Signal Construction LLC, a developer based in Wyoming, has been selected to build the hangars, Parker said. After the hangars are built, Signal will sell the buildings.

An appraisal will determine the rental rate for the land on which the hangars sit, Parker said. That revenue will stay in the airport's budget.

Leases probably will be for 25 years or more, Parker said. The county has yet to decide whether ownership of the hangar will revert back to the county at the end of that period, or whether it will continue to be owned by the purchasers.

-- To reach Susan Cunningham, call 871-4203 or e-mail scunningham@steamboatpilot.com