After three and a half years of hard work by many Residential Through The Fence (rTTF) advocates, H.R. 658, the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act containing rTTF preserving language, has passed the House and Senate and sent to President Obama for his expected signature.

Residential Through The Fence (rTTF) access is defined as homes with attached or adjacent aircraft hangars with taxiway access to the airport taxiways and runways. Hangar home owners with rTTF access pay similar use fees as on airport users and support the airport economy with fuel and service purchases.

Sam Graves (R-MO) led the charge for Residential Through The Fence access in the FAA funding bill. Major support from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and Oregon’s State and Federal legislative representatives was instrumental in having rTTF language in the long overdue FAA reauthorization bill.

“We thank Congressman Graves and many others in the General Aviation Caucus who have supported this legislation which will help the future economic viability of many small airports” stated Brent Blue, organizer of ThroughTheFence.org, a site that advocates rTTF access. “Congressman Graves, who not only was able to force a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on the topic, championed the inclusion into the legislation as well as several other general aviation issues which will help the future of small aircraft in the United States.” Blue continued “Also, the support of the EAA has been unwavering and instrumental in our success. We are greatly indebted to them.”

Residential Through The Fence access became an issue about five years ago when two FAA staffers in the Washington DC FAA Airports office, Acting Associate Administrator for Airports Katherine Lang and Director of Compliance Randall Fiertz, decided that hangar homes were an incompatible use of adjacent airport property. Lang and Fiertz cited reasons for their campaign as incongruous as “hangar home owners complain about airport noise” to “hangar homes are harder to condemn” than cemeteries for future airport expansion. Lang also stated, in written hearing testimony, that “hangar home owners had undue influence on airport boards because they testified at public meetings.”

The rTTF language protects airports from losing airport improvement grant monies from the FAA due to past, current, or future Residential Through The Fence agreements.

Idaho has enacted a statute Recreational Trepass – Landholder Liability Limited. We are trying to make sure it applies to us regarding liability when planes do fly in for visits. It says the purpose of the statute is to make land, airstrips and water areas available to the public without charge for recreational purposes by limiting their liability toward persons entering thereon for such purposes. It is under Title 36, Fish and Game, Chapter 16. Have you heard anything about this? We understand Kansas has also passed a similar statue. Would you have any info on this?

A reader says he is a new pilot living in Wisconsin on a farm with a private 3,000 foot grass strip. The strip isn’t listed on any charts and he wonders about liability as it relates to accidents, etc. on the private strip. Are there any publications that spell out landowner responsibilities and liabilities?

I don’t think you will find any publication that is going to spell out what you are specifically looking for. I suspect you can probably find some court cases that effectively make law regarding such situations, but probably you’ll need an attorney to sort them out for you.

Listing the airstrip as private use only, prior permission required for landing might be more useful than not listing it all.

The cost of checking with an attorney and an insurance firm, preferably ones with knowledge of real estate and aviation, would be extra helpful and the relative low cost of such a consultation would give you a lot of piece of mind.

But remember, anyone can sue anyone over anything! There are no guarantees.

“In June 2009, the supervisors denied a request for a special-use permit from [Mark] Meyer that would have allowed construction of 16 houses with private airplane hangars at the airstrip — an $8 million project.”

Upon opening the agenda item for the Waypoint CUP, commission member Tessa Levens moved to recommend denial of the request to the Town Board. Following more than an hour of public discussion, the motion to deny failed. Commission member Judy Meierotto’s motion to approve the request resulted in another two-to-two split with one abstention from member Rocky Tribovich, whose firm was hired to complete work at the Waypoint site.

The Town of Russell Board will consider the request on Tuesday, October 12th at 7 p.m. The request is also on the agenda for the October 21st public hearing and Bayfield County Zoning Committee meeting at 1 p.m.

The proposed airport is designed for GPS landing of private aircraft by home, hangar and landowners of Waypoint. The proposed runway is reduced in length by more than 800 feet since the original plans to minimize the clearing area while still maintaining safe landing and takeoffs.