County Commissioners Inflexible About Options

The operator of an airplane parts salvage yard is being pushed out of the way by the county to make room for new hangars at a Florida airport, but vows not to give up without a fight.

Kevin Rosa has been doing business as Command Aircraft Parts and Recovery for over 10 years at Florida's Flagler County Airport. Now county commissioners want to send him and his business packing, to make way for the construction of new hangars on a 2.3 acre tract on the north side of the field.

Back in 1990, another business obtained a 15-year lease on the property, which Rosa took over after seven years into the agreement. The renewal date of the lease in 2005 came and went without much fanfare, leaving Rosa with the impression that his lease on the property had been renewed.

But county officials say that instead of renewing automatically, the lease simply reverted to a month-to-month basis after its expiration in 2005. Around the same time, Flagler County Commissioners adopted a new airport master plan that did not include Rosa's business, according to Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

Last year, commissioners decided the property in question would be better used as a site for new hangars, leaving Rosa out in the cold. "But they didn't make it well-known that's what they were doing," Rosa said, claiming that no one from the county approached him about the plan, and was unaware the meetings and commission decisions had occurred.

Carl Laundrie, Flagler County spokesman, said officials did everything legally required to notify the public about their plans for use of the land. Financed through an enterprise fund, the Flagler County Airport is not supported by property taxes, as funds for operations and expansion come from revenue from fuel sales and land leases.

Rosa is paying 4 cents per square foot for his lease, approximately $345 per month. "We can no longer afford for the public's property to subsidize this salvage yard," Airport Manager Jack Thompson said.

Last week in a news release Laundrie said the county is losing out on prime airside property that's better suited for other uses, and cited that other airport tenants are paying up to 10 times more than Rosa for their leases.

Rosa says he knows all that, and also says he's willing to pay more for his space at the airport, or to move his salvage yard to a less visible spot on the airport's nearly 2,000 acres, if officials will let him. Rosa said, "It's nice to be in the flight line, but we'd be just as happy elsewhere on the property."

Rosa said former County Manager David Haas told him years ago his space at the airport may one day be needed for another purpose. "Haas and former airport manager Jim Jarrell promised the county would provide a new lease elsewhere on the airport property when the time came. But the offer was never put in writing," Rosa said.

Rosa received an eviction notice last month, demanding that he and his business vacate the property by November 1. County officials have done nothing to help him find a new location for his business, he said, and worse, the eviction could affect a dozen jobs.

Not willing to give up without a fight, Rosa is staying put, and has hired a lawyer to provide legal counsel and evaluate his options. "Things are hard enough right now. People aren't flying and things are slow," Rosa said. "The last thing you want to spend your money on is lawyers."

FMI: www.flaglercountyairport.com