Paving study supports limit

A paving study accepted by Douglas County commissioners last week supports keeping a weight limit at Minden-Tahoe Airport.

The Minden-Tahoe Airport Pavement Capacity Review performed by applied pavement technology indicates that there are portions of the airport that can support 100,000-pound aircraft. But there are also areas of the airport that can only support the currently established 50,000 pounds.

Douglas County residents revised the airport ordinance in 1992 to allow dual-wheel aircraft weighing 50,000 pounds and single-wheeled aircraft weighing 30,000 pounds.

That weight limit has been challenged on the basis of two paving studies conducted in 2002 and 2005, which said heavier aircraft could use the airport on a restricted basis.

Restricting aircraft using the airport based on weight has been in Douglas County code since 1984, when fears that the airport would grow prompted residents to enact an ordinance.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced earlier this year that the weight ordinance was irrelevant.

It was the pavement's durability, not county voters' desires that was the key factor in determining whether large aircraft could use the airport.

Residents have expressed the desire to keep the airport small for nearly a quarter of a century. This latest study appears to support them in their efforts.