OGDEN -- The City Council peered into the future of Ogden Hinckley Airport Tuesday night and apparently liked what they saw: A new $12 million privately owned airpark complete with a new executive terminal, a 100-room two-story hotel with a roof-top restaurant and 40 to 50 large new hangars packed with business and corporate aircraft.
Council members took the first step toward downloading that image from the crystal ball onto the municipal planning boards Tuesday night by retooling the city's airport ordinance.The council action added two new chapters to the ordinance. One permits the establishment of a privately owned airpark adjacent to the city-owned airport; and the other sets minimum standards for airpark operations.
Airport Manager Jeremy Taylor said the ordinance amendments, which already have received Federal Aeronautics Administration approval, would have to be accepted by the city before an airpark can be built.
Bowman and Kemp Steel, an Ogden-based manufacturing firm, has purchased 26 acres of land near 4400 South at the south end of the airport for the proposed airpark project.
The airport manager said a preliminary plan is being prepared that will go through the normal city planning process. "But we're not ready to bring it to you yet," he told the council.
Part of that plan may involve a request to sell about four acres of city-owned land near the airpark site to the developer. Any property transactions would have to be approved by the council.
Taylor noted he had been hoping the city could purchase the property for future airport expansion, but funds never became available.
However, the airport manager said he is now satisfied a partnership between the city and developer Mel Kemp can be mutually beneficial.
Instead of using taxpayer dollars to provide the kind of amenities that will attract more business and commercial clients, the project will now rely on private capital to upgrade the airport before the 2002 Winter Olympics.
"It's the next move," Taylor said, "for Utah's second busiest airport."
He also indicated the developer is now seeking other investors who may want to establish aviation-oriented businesses in the airpark.
"Through the fence" access between the airport and the privately owned airpark would likely be regulated by a large automatic gate that could be open and closed by remote control.
Taylor also reported the developer has eased the concerns of the two "fixed base operators" who already sell fuel and aviation services at the airport by agreeing the airpark would not compete with them.
He noted the local airpark will be modeled after a similar venture in Scottsdale, although it will be smaller and primarily aimed at attracting more commercial and business aircraft.