rickhansen,.... Are you seriously trying to compare Leland Outfitters buying and moving into a 13 acre parcel next to an airport and what has happened since that time to actions of "....big city developers...." in other states??? If so, you're very much mistaken. This negative judgment sounds arrogant and is apparently based on your past of living outside of this state. Seems strange that even tho you cast us in such a negative light, you decided to move here didn't you(???).... As I've had a some experience in observing big city developers like KB Homes, etc., I can say "big city developers" are not comparable to what you're trying to make the case against Leland out to be.
Also, from available info/documentation on this, other than the agencies you've named, I don't really see the "....plethora of alphabet soup departments in federal, state and local government...." agencies that you claim are interested in this matter. Since the airport has existed "....for 65 years...." in proximity to it's own and other permanent ponds, located in a low lying flood plain, the danger of bird strikes originating from Leland's pond seems to be overstated. After all, only one strike has been mentioned in support of rejection of permits as occurring over the 65 year period the airport has been there and nobody can claim to know where that bird came from.
I don't usually get ticked off much but I'd like you to know that I object to your use of the term "Californification" to create a negative stereotype of Californians. Certainly we have as many problems in this state as everyone in any other state does. You use the term "Californication" to characterize what happened in Leland's case as an arrogant big city developer (from California) arriving in a rural area and throwing their money/weight around. Use of that term to generally cast all developers in this state in a negative light is unwarranted. Since every story has two sides, I'd like to share some of my own experiences with you. Over the years I worked in compliance activities, I've actually traced a law/tax evading sub-contractor (framer) from southern OR who routinely worked on housing projects in CA, failed to observe labor laws or pay into Workman's Comp and payroll taxes then skip to OR to avoid prosecution, leaving a trail of unpaid bills and injured workers who were disabled from injuries on the job and unpaid taxes. BTW, taxpayers in this state had to pay for medical needs of those injured while in this framers employment. Same experience with a couple of logging contractors, one of which ended up going to jail on federal tax evasion charges. I could go on but you get the idea. Sounds like there's bad apples on both sides of the border, doesn't it??
Since, as I've already said, there's two sides to every story, I acknowledge that there's still a permit issue to be resolved. Also, I'm still unclear whether a fence was completed by Leland in a safe zone. When I looked at Google Earth, I found what appears to be a fence that extends out along the Leland southern property line that has an opening roughly half way through it. If that's an issue, it's a simple matter for the county to ask that it be removed as a condition of granting permits.
However, from what I can see in the copy of (1) the "Landscape Plan" reflecting property lines and buidings outside the safe zones, (2) the photo's of the ranch and diagram of the safe zones for the airstrips, (3) locations of all of the ponds (not just Leland's, which is already permitted BTW) surrounding the airport and (4) the apparent lack of county code enforcement activity over the years makes me think that the complaints from the airport/neighbors appear to be overstated. If so, all of the related issues mentioned by the other so-called neighbors don't really add up to much to me. If the county approves the permits on the 24th, this stuff should just quietly go away. If not approved, the county will have to enforce. This seems to me to be more of a case of NIMBY.
Just to clarify, I have no personal interest in the matter, other than to get at the facts which seem to be sadly exaggerated by those fighting approval of the permit.
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