Keeping a rural airport rural

It's a year and a half before the 2010 election, and the first campaign initiative has hit the silk.

The county's weight ordinance at the Minden-Tahoe Airport has been in place longer than most people have lived here.

First developed in 1982 to prevent an increase in larger commercial aircraft using the airport, residents voted in favor of a weight limit again in 1984.

Residents developed the initiative and established the ordinance.

In 1992, after work on the runway increased its capacity, the Federal Aviation Administration required that the county alter the weight limit to reflect improvements done with federal money.

Residents agreed to increase the capacity listed in the weight ordinance to jibe with the airport's capacity.

Now, two decades and $20 million in federal money later, the county is again stuck between the federal government, which claims the weight limit discriminates against large aircraft, and residents who don't want big jets flying over their heads.

No one wants commercial jet liners flying out of Minden-Tahoe Airport. But if we keep doubling the weight limit every decade or so, it will someday be difficult to prevent.

We think there should be something in this latest ballot initiative that confirms the county's commitment to keep the airport rural would be a step toward getting it passed.

That may mean enforcing rules refusing future federal funds that do more than maintain the airport at its present size.