Carmel Valley Historic Airpark Society


CARMEL VALLEY HISTORIC AIRPARK SOCIETY

MEDIA ARTICLES and PRESS RELEASES


MEDIA ARTICLES


Protest halts final shutdown of C.V. airport
 Carmel Pine Cone, May 31, 2002. Article by Tamara Grippi.

New life for Carmel Valley Airport
Monterey County Herald, November 6, 2001. Article by Kevin Howe.

Caltrans challenges ruling on C.V. airport
 Monterey County Herald, August 18, 2001. Article by Kevin Howe.

State sues county to keep Carmel Valley Airport open
 Carmel Pine Cone, August 10, 2001. Article by Mary Brownfield.

Is Carmel Valley airport a real threat to local school?
 Carmel Pine Cone, May 18, 2001. Article by Kirstie Wilde.

Report on April 24 Monterey County Board of Supervisors review of Amortization Ordinance
 Monterey County Herald, April 25, 2001. By Jill Duman.

Carmel Valley Vintage Airpark Threatened with Closure
 AVweb News, the Internet's Aviation Magazine and News Service, Dec.6, 2000. Article by Brenda Carol.



PRESS RELEASES


Carmel Valley Vintage Airpark


November 6, 2000 -- On Friday November 3, 2000, the California Historical Resources Commission voted unanimously to nominate Carmel Valley Vintage Airpark (CVVA) as a State Historic Resource. The Commission found that the development of CVVA by Byington Ford in 1941 was significant in that it represented the first airpark in the United States and the world. Ford's concept of an airpark combined an airport with residential lots surrounding it for hangar homes. Airpark homeowners would keep planes in their hangars, much as most people do with automobiles and garages. CVVA was the innovative forerunner of this concept which allowed airpark homeowners to be able to fly to their homes. Since the inception of CVVA, over 400 airparks have been built in the United States alone.

At the historical application hearing in Los Angeles, local opponent Meg Giberson made numerous accusations that the facts in the application were not correct. However, the Commission found her claims to be non-substantive, and further, indicated that there was more than enough evidence to support the historic soundness of the application. One commissioner told Giberson that the nomination might even help support her stated desire to not see development on the property.

Nomination to the California State Historical Register means that the owner of the property can now place the airpark on the Register and receive significant tax advantages, property incentives, and other protections available to historical properties. The owner's apparent intent to sell the property for development, and the County's drive to close the airport, has led a group of over thirty local residents to form the Carmel Valley Historic Airpark Society. The Society's goal is to save the airport and find a sponsor who can assume the property, preserve the airport as it exists today, and maintain the open space for the community.


Carmel Valley Historic Airpark Society Formed to Protect the Airpark


August 29, 2000 -- The Carmel Valley Historic Airpark Society (CVHAS) has been formed by a group of concerned citizens in an effort to recognize and preserve the oldest residential airpark in the United States and to protect it for the valuable resource that it is to the residents of Carmel Valley.

Carmel Valley Vintage Airfield, located just north of Carmel Valley Road in Carmel Valley Village, has been in existence since its opening in 1941. The airpark was originally the idea of Carmel-By-the-Sea pioneer, Byington Ford, in 1940. At that time, no more than about twenty-four people lived in the environs of the Village, and the only landmarks along Carmel Valley Road were the White Oak Dairy (now the White Oak Grill) and some old barns. Ford purchased the land and introduced the "Airway Ranch" as a master-planned development where residents could hangar their airplanes in their homes.

Unfortunately, opening ceremonies at the airpark were held on December 7, 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor. As a result of the war there was a prohibition on civilian flying along the West Coast, effectively delaying Ford's dream of an airpark. Instead, he was forced to sell homesites to all interested buyers, rather than just those who intended to build hangar-homes. As such, only two true airpark homes were ever built at the airfield. However, Carmel Valley's airpark was the forerunner of a movement that has seen over four hundred airparks built in the United States since 1941.

Although Carmel Valley Vintage Airfield did not become the complete airpark that Byington Ford once envisioned, it has operated continuously since the end of World War II as an FAA and State certified airport, and has provided the residents of the area with a place to base their aircraft. The airfield allows out-of-county residents to fly directly into Carmel Valley Village to enjoy all of the services and amenities the local community has to offer. Furthermore, non-flyers enjoy the twenty-five acres of open space in the increasingly developed Valley. The perimeter trail around the field is enjoyed by countless people for walking, running, horseback riding and dog walking. On a more practical note, the airfield provides a firebreak for the Village and doubles as a vital staging area for fire-fighting helicopters and equipment during the fire season.

Unfortunately, this valuable and historic asset to the community is in danger of being closed and developed. Since 1971 the County of Monterey has been mandated by the California Public Utility Code to implement an Airport Land Use Commission to develop compatible land use policies around public use airports. The County has consistently shirked this obligation and is now trying to force the airfield to cease all operations as a result of a non-conforming land use designation. In an effort to help preserve the airfield and the history it represents to the local community, the Carmel Valley Historic Airpark Society has recently applied to the State for historic recognition by placing the airpark on the State's historic register.

CVHAS encourages interested citizens to contact their supervisors and ask them to develop the mandated land-use policy which would allow an important piece of history and vital community asset to coexist with other land uses. Letters can be sent to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors (P.O. Box 1728, Salinas, CA 93902) urging them to preserve the country's first and oldest airpark.

Parties interested in joining or attending a meeting of the Carmel Valley Historic Airpark Society may contact Dennis Hodgin at 831-655-1024 or visit our website at http://www.vintageairfield.com.

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 CARMEL VALLEY HISTORIC AIRPARK SOCIETY
P.O. Box 683
Carmel Valley, CA 93924
 		Carmel Valley Vintage Airfield
E-mail: contact@vintageairfield.com