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Meeting Minutes
Airport Commission
Regular Meeting
November 13, 2024, | 5:00 p.m.
Chandler Airport Terminal
2380 S. Stinson Way, Chandler, AZ
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Hawley at 5:00 p.m.
Roll Call
Commission Attendance
Staff Attendance
Chairman Christopher Hawley
Ryan Reeves, Airport Manager
Vice Chairman Charles McCorkle
Scott Rinkenberger, Airport Ops Manager
Commissioner Cecil Orozco
Chris Andres, Airport Planning Program Mngr.
Commissioner Mark Mount
Diana Alonzo, Management Assistant
Commissioner Robert Ehlbeck
Commissioner Damian Nichols
Absent
Commissioner Mark Riesterer
Others in Attendance
Lauren Schumann, Principal Planner
Stephanie Romero, Public Information Officer
Scheduled and Unscheduled Public Appearances
CHAIRMAN HAWLEY asked if there were any members of the public that would like to address the
committee on any items not on the agenda.
None.
Approval of Minutes and Discussion
1. August 2024 Regular Meeting Minutes
Move to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of August 14, 2024.
Consent Agenda Motion and Vote
2. It was moved by COMMISSIONER MOUNT and seconded by COMMISSIONER EHLBECK to
approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of the August 14, 2024.
Motion carried unanimously (6-0).
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VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE proposed to amend the calendar meeting starting time from 5 p.m. to
5:30 p.m.
It was moved by COMMISSIONER OROZCO and seconded by VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE.
Briefing
3. Housing Mandate Code Amendments
MS. SCHUMANN gave an update on PLH24-0025 City Code Amendment State Housing Mandates.
MS. SCHUMANN stated that she has been with the City of Chandler In May of 2024, Governor
Hobbs signed a series of house and state bills into effect with hopes to “expand housing options and
help mitigate the effects of rising costs to make life more affordable for everyday Arizonans” for cities
with populations exceeding 75,000 persons, permitting accessory dwelling units by right for single-
family lots. This allows one attached and one detached ADU and one additional if the lot is greater
than one acre. An ADU is defined as 75% of the gross floor area of the primary unit or 1,000 square
feet, whichever is less.
SB 1162 Zoning Shot Clock: Housing Assessment established a zoning application shot clock for
administrative completeness and processing timelines for residential projects. The timelines must
include administrative completeness within 30 days, resubmittal for administrative completeness
within 15 days, approved or denied within 180 days, and allow 30-day extensions for extenuating
circumstances or at applicant’s request. There needs to be a housing needs assessment every 5
years and the city to submit an annual report to the AZ Department of Housing.
SB 1103 Administrative Review; approvals; developments
This Bill authorizes administrative personnel to review and approve plats without a public hearing.,
Preliminary plats still require public hearings, and Chapter 48 subdivisions are revised for final plats.
Approval and signature are allowed by the City Engineer and the Development Services Director in
lieu of Mayor.
HB 2325; Backyard Fowl
This prohibits municipalities from restricting chickens within single-family lots, Backyard Chickens as
adopted January 2023. The number of hens was increased from 5 to 6, but roosters are still
prohibited. There is no change to coop restrictions to 120 sq. ft. The height is limited to the property’s
perimeter fence and setback five feet from side and rear yards.
PLH24-0036 Commercial Building Adaptive Reuse Policy, State Housing Mandates.
HB 2297 Commercial Buildings; Adaptive Reuse applies to municipalities with populations exceeding
150,000. Multi-family or adaptive reuse is allowed on 10% of existing commercial, office, or mixed-
use buildings; no public hearings are required. Requirements are to identify 10% or exclude 10%.
Also required is the establishment of objective criteria which must require but not exceed the
following: site plan review process, infrastructure analysis, buildings/parcels functionally obsolete,
parcels greater than1 acre and less than 20 acres, and set aside 10% of the total units for low-to-
moderate income for a minimum of 20 years.
Chandler is using GIS to identify all commercial buildings on 1 to 20 acre lots, totalling 4,271
buildings. Bill-excluded areas identified within FAA Flight airspace total 1,422 buildings. Areas to
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protect are employment corridors and the historic downtown colonnade. There are 1,721 buildings
eligible for adaptive reuse for residential and/or mixed-use.
There is a total of 10% of eligible buildings redeveloped for residential or mixed-use. It is reevaluated
every 10 years until 10% is met.
COMMISSIONER OROZCO asked what short term rental meant on House Bill 2720.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that in the city code, she believed it to be regulated under tax and
license. The short-term rental is anything considered a rental under 30 days. The language that was
in place under the earlier code amendment stated that accessory dwelling units couldn't be used for a
short-term rental, like Airbnbs and vacation properties.
COMMISSIONER OROZCO asked how school planning is in the residential planning since it impacts
those areas.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that the majority of the schools fall under the Chandler Unified School
District (CUSD), so they are separate entity. The city does not generally build schools within the
school district. In the past they have reached out to schools to ensure that there were enough seats
or enrollment available when residentials occur, but they have not received much feedback from that.
Planning is going through their general plan update next year. This is going to be a two-year long
process; those are some things that they will take into consideration as well. The school districts
monitor what they are doing.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked MR. REEVES IF there is an FAA restriction with putting in a
STEM School inside the airport.
MR. REEVES responded, no. As long as it would be aeronautical use, then there’s no issue. MR.
REEVES stated that he can point to one very specific example such as WestMEC at Glendale
Municipal located inside an airport. They don’t have movement area access, but there is a taxi lane
that is gated.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE stated that he was just thinking about the possibilities for the
southside.
MR. REEVES responded, absolutely. If it is education, it just needs to be aeronautical use.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked what the definition is of adaptive reused for HB 2297 and what
qualifies it for adaptive reuse. He also asked if someone adds a kitchen and a bedroom to a
commercial property would the property then be for adaptive reuse.
MS. SCHUMANN responded, no. The way the bill's written, it said that they could either utilize the
existing property or they could demo the entire site and build completely new. She was unsure
somebody would develop just one unit. It is in order to get more units into the market.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked if a hangar is built and has rooms inside of it for people to live
in or operate out of, if there are any restrictions.
MR. REEVES responded that within the federal regulations for aviation, specifically the FAA has
found you cannot have residences on public use and federally obligated airfields.
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VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked what qualifies then is a residence, does it have to be
permanently inhabited or is it intermittently.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that when they talk about what is a residential unit, they are actually
discussing the accessory dwelling unit bill and utilizing that 5-ft setback. The building code requires
five different things in order for it to be classified as a residential unit (sanitation, a kitchen, kitchen
area, a closet sleeping quarters). In our language of the ADU, we were very specific in that it shall
have its own kitchen, even though the state bill said can or could not have a kitchen. We said if you're
utilizing this ADU bill and you're attaching it to your house, it has to have a kitchen. We put language
in there that said it had to have a separate ingress and egress to the outside. If somebody wanted to
go get a commercial building and turn it into a residence per the building code, they're required to
have a bathroom, a kitchen, a closet, and sleeping quarters.
MR. REEVES stated that if it's incidental, then you can have those on airports. Think of all the airports
you've seen with hotels on airport grounds. But if it is permanently occupied, like in EL Cajon, CA
where there were residences built with all the things that MS. SCHUMANN mentioned, the FAA was
very clear in their direction in that specific case that it could only be incidental use and you could not
take a permanent residency on a federally obligated airfield.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked if incidental referred to overnight.
MR. ANDRES stated that hotels are commercial enterprise. For something that is on the airport, that
is different.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked if someone that has been flying sleeps in their hangar and is
consistently occupying it and also stated that he has used the FBO before to stay overnight.
MR. ANDRES responded that when consistently occupying it and there are no other residents, they
are clearly living there, it is clearly unacceptable.
MR. REEVES responded that he is glad the FBO use case was mentioned because one of the things
historically, the FAA provides guidance on. Specific to that is a commercial operation. It must be
determined whether it is primarily residence or primarily to provide aeronautical services and this is
an additional service.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked if they don’t expect to have any issues with development
around the airport because they will still have to come back through the Airport Commission.
MS. SCHUMANN asked VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE if he was concerned that under this policy,
somebody will build a residential unit in a hangar or in a commercial development around here.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE responded, both. Which is why he was trying to clarify it because he
knows there's a distinction there and wasn't sure what the rules are on that. With this change now
around the airport, we do have a concern if they're going to start changing and redeveloping some of
the commercial buildings that we just said were to be commercial.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that the update the City did a couple of years ago, they confirmed we
don't want any additional residential within the airport area. They insured that there were two
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airspaces within Chandler, which saved them a lot of time and enabled the City to use those areas
and exempt them and not have to account them towards our 10%.
COMMISSIONER EHLBECK stated that just looking at the airspace obviously extends past Chandler
city grounds or do you have the exact same kind of relationship and standard or is Gilbert doing the
exact same thing in regard to that space and saying those areas are exempt.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that she spoke to the planner processing this for the Town of Gilbert,
and they were not this far ahead. They were still trying to figure out what they were wanting to do.
She sent them what they had, and said there is a portion of our airspace that you may be able to use
to exempt. They stated that they would look into it, but never responded back to let them know if they
utilized it. She noted a portion of that area is within their mixed-use development area.
COMMISSIONER NICHOLS stated that he had two questions, one about the accessory buildings and
the one about the chickens. He assumed those applied to non-HOA residents.
MS. SCHUMANN responded yes, it's strange the bill said that cities had to do this, but there was
language there that said HOAs were excluded. If HOAs have rules, those are still in place. It’s just
that cities can't regulate it.
COMMISSIONER NICHOLS inquired about the two phone calls Planning received.
MS. SCHUMANN responded she thinks a lot of developers are out just seeing what they can pick up
quickly, but it falls back that 10% of whatever they build has to be deeded for 20 years for low-to-
moderate-income units.
COMMISSIONER NICHOLS asked if the plans have to be submitted by January of 2025 or does the
product have to be completed by then.
MS. SCHUMANN responded, no. The municipalities had to have some sort of policy in place.
COMMISSIONER NICHOLS asked if it was just about the city.
MS. SCHUMANN responded, yes. Then we have every ten years we can go back and reevaluate it.
We're supposed to keep a running track of when we hit that 10%. Once we hit that 10%, the policy is
off the table.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked what low-to-moderate income is.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that low-to-moderate is the area medium income from 80& to a 120% of
the area medium income.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked if that is specific to a small area or is that specific to the whole
city.
MS. SCHUMANN responded to the whole city.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked what the medium income is.
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MS. SCHUMANN responded she did not have the number because Housing was in the process of
updating the medium income. 4 years ago, it was $120k.
CHAIRMAN HAWLEY asked if the yellow/gold color in the corner of the graphic is being used for
Airpark designation to exempt it.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that when we did our evaluation of the buildings, they found that that
wasn't in the flight path, but it was in that Chandler Airpark area plan. They were able to indicate 10%
of the buildings and wanted to say you cannot use this policy. Staff indicated that all of those
buildings on that corner cannot be used for this policy, and if somebody wanted to go through and
rezone, let's say Airstream, they would have to go through the process, go before the Planning and
Zoning, Airport Commission, and the City Council, which planning staff would have to make a
recommendation of denial because it conflicts with the Chandler Airpark Area Plan.
CHAIRMAN HAWLEY asked if the ADUs and the neighborhoods that are around the airport have
noise complaints problems and if any of those could get ADUs under this under the new bill or a new
law or if they are exempt because of HOAs.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that they wondered if the City wanted to restrict ADUs within that blue
area in and around the airport. Staff evaluated that and talked to the Law department because in
March of this year when the City of Chandler did a code amendment, it was said that every single-
family home could have one ADU. If they were to now say that the area in blue cannot have it, it
would be a conflict with Prop 207 and there's a possibility that the city could get sued. When looking
at that area, a majority of those are within HOAs and most HOAs do not allow for accessory dwelling
units.
CHAIRMAN HAWLEY asked if Prop 207 was voter sponsored proposition.
MS. SCHUMANN responded that it was.
4. Monthly Operations Report
MR. REEVES presented the Monthly Operations Report for August, September, and October 2024.
For August 2024, you will notice that we do have some decreases in operational counts. In August of
2023, we had 18,000 total compared to only 17,500 in 2024. Higher temperatures account for this, as
well as the numerous temporary flight restrictions. We had repeated shutdowns for presidential
candidate visits as well as some TFRs for construction the past couple of years. Our counts remain a
good indicator that the economic impact of flights stayed healthy. You will notice that our total
operations are still up appreciably. Over last year, flight training throughout the region grew, as did
the number of Part 135 operations.
For September 2024, again we do see another even more appreciable drop from 19,000 down to just
under 18,000. Again, a great deal of this is due to development in the area. We've had some really
large commercial spaces going up all around the airport, and there's been a lot of maintenance on
HVAC as there usually is this time of year when the temperature is starting to drop., In September we
had a tremendous spike in TFRs due to the presidential election. We made moderate gains again,
and what we're seeing on the ramp is consistent with what all of the analysts are seeing in the region,
which is more charter operations, specifically fractional charter operations.
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From October 2023 to October 2024, we saw a significant decrease. That is specific to again the
presidential TFRs as well as the construction area just to our west at the corner of McQueen and
Queen Creek is using cranes that are penetrating the approach and departure services. We are still
46th in the national ATADS ranking and 17th in GA. We're seeing very similar numbers with our
neighbor airports in the valley. There was a significant increase in IFR operations, and it is consistent
with the percentage increase we're seeing in the Western Pacific, mainly California, Nevada, and
Arizona. The market seems to be stabilizing.
COMMISSIONER EHLBECK asked since staff has a tool to track the amount of time TFRs are
covering the airport, can this tool quantify the types of regular GA people that are not flying and the
number of flight hours lost.
MR. REEVES responded that it doesn't specifically pull that data out. We could apply it. It would be
very cumbersome, but we could do it. When the TFR goes into effect, you can watch the airspace all
around the area start to slowly constrict on airports and eventually cease. We continue to work with
the flying public to make sure that they're not onerously restricted by all these closures.
COMMISSIONER OROZCO asked what the impact of fuel sales is from the high to the low.
MR. REEVES responded that he is still waiting for October numbers from the FBO, but it had very
little impact on our fuel sales. We're actually up significantly over last year compared to year-to-year.
With the FBO, MR. REEVES expects it to have almost a match to the decrease in operations.
5. Monthly Noise Report
MR. REEVES gave an overview of the monthly noise report for August, September, and October 2024.
For the month of August 2024, we had two (2) households make three (3) reports, two (2) were for
noise, 1 was for low-flying aircraft. One (1) household was a repeat residence.
For the month of September 2024 report, one (1) household made five (5) reports regarding aircraft
activity. All reports were for noise from a repeat residence.
For the month of October 2024 report, four (4) households made four (4) reports regarding aircraft
activity. One (1) report was for aircraft noise and three (3) were regarding aircraft traffic.
6. Monthly Origins and Destinations Report
MR. REEVES gave a report for August September and October 2024.
The data provided documents the filed IFR flight plans for commercial operators into and from the
Chandler Municipal Airport in August 2024. These flights represent business travel utilizing CHD; 175
such flights took place in August 2024. There was one (1) repositioning flight from CHD, representing
633 gallons of enroute fuel burn. Total flights to and from CHD represent 26,533 gallons of fuel burn.
The data provided documents the filed IFR flight plans for commercial operators into and from the
Chandler Municipal Airport in September 2024. These flights represent business travel utilizing CHD;
147 such flights took place in September 2024. There was one (1) repositioning flight from CHD,
representing 471 gallons of enroute fuel burn. Total flights to and from CHD represent 24,549 gallons
of fuel burn.
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The data provided below documents the filed IFR flight plans for commercial operators into and from
the Chandler Municipal Airport in October 2024. These flights represent business travel utilizing CHD;
236 such flights took place in October 2024. There were four (4) repositioning flight from CHD,
representing 2,538 gallons of enroute fuel burn. Total flights to and from CHD represent 40,855 gallons
of fuel burn.
7. Monthly Construction Report
MR. ANDRES gave an overview of the Construction Report.
Capital Projects in the Design Phase:
West Airport Facilities Upgrade: This is a city funded project at $3.9 million. Revised scope includes
operations garage, parking lot and aircraft observation area. Currently, at 90% design.
Airport Fuel Tank Relocation: This is a city funded project $610,000. There is a cost negotiation with
vendors.
Runway End Identifier Light (REIL) Installation Runway 4L-22R (North Runway): This is an FAA funded
project for $110,000. The plans are at 100%. The FAA environmental clearance was received.
Runway 4R-22L Rehabilitation (South Runway): The FAA grant for $350,000 for design was approved.
The Kick-off meeting is scheduled for 4/6. 100% of the plans were submitted. Awaiting FAA notification
of construction funding.
Taxiway B Improvements- Phase 1: The ADOT grant for $2,035,000 has been approved. The FAA
environmental clearance was received. 30% design meeting with ADOT on 5/24. 100% sealed plans
submittal on 9/27. Proceeding to the bidding phase.
Hangar Area Pavement Rehabilitation: This a city funded project for $7.4 million to redo pavement in
and among the city-owned hangars. Design Kick-off meeting 10/31. The goal is to have 100% of the
hangar plans by early March.
Capital Projects - Construction Phase:
Taxiway C Electrical: This is a city funded project. This addresses the immediate issues with electrical
infrastructure. The cabling and lighting systems are functional but need replacement. The
preconstruction meeting is scheduled for 7/18 and 9/4 for the construction meeting. Construction is
underway and substantial completion scheduled for 11/20.
Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) Replacement: This is an FAA funded project for
$200,000. The FAA environmental clearance was received. Council approval was completed on 6/13.
Preconstruction meeting will be on 7/15 for long-lead equipment procurement. NTP issued 10/28.
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Former K&K Site Remediation: City funding for soil remediation near end of Cooper Road north of
Queen Creek. Mobilization starting on 7/8 with remediation originally scheduled to be completed by
mid-November. Remediation schedule to be revised due to unforeseen conditions.
COMMISSIONER EHLBECK asked what “unforeseen conditions” meant.
MR. REEVES responded it meant what was discovered was a variety of things, including the landfill
area is larger than suspected, and that it was impacted with toxaphene at a much higher
concentration than the initial tests indicated. Also discovered was more than double the amount of
building rubble. With the proposed scope increases to clean the property and make it serviceable for
development in future, our main concern is that we do not want future aeronautical development on
the site to suffer in any way or in any scope because of an environmental restriction.
COMMISSIONER NICHOLS asked if on the West Airport Facilities Upgrade, when you go out for bid
for that, are you guys planning on doing that as a GMP to help limit scope creep
MR. ANDRES responded that he was not sure if we're going to do CMR, as it's not a design build and
it doesn't go to that level. Our Capital Projects Department will do the contracting and haven't settled
on a particular method at this point. The goal is once we get the plan set, he suspects it will be the
standard design-bid-build process will be more than adequate. In terms of the garage and the
parking lot, those are very common projects to develop. They do not require anything unusual, but he
doesn’t believe that the decision has been made.
Information Items
8.Residential Budget Survey
MR. REEVES shared information and the location of the Residential Budget Survey for the
Commissioners. This is part of our Budget and CIP planning outreach.
https://www.chandleraz.gov/government/budget-and-capital-improvement-program/planning
9. Manager’s Report
MR. REEVES shared that fuel sales have been climbing. These are the sales numbers for the city only.
MR. REEVES also shared at a recent Council workshop he spent 2 hours reviewing the Strategic
Business Plan and the Community Impact Study for the proposed Runway Extension. All aspects of
the projects were covered and Council feedback on specifically the Mission, Vision, and Values
Statements was received. Phasing for the Strategic Business Plan was reviewed. Our consultant
estimates only three to five months to draft the remaining business plan, and then proceed to
obtaining Council approval. We'll present that to you as well prior to Council.
The Market Assessments and the Airport Inventory Assessment are complete, the SWOT Analysis is
complete. We are at the very last stages of minor revisions per Council's direction specific to only the
Mission and Vision Statements, not the value statement. Council requested slight revisions to the
Mission and Vision Statements for both to be more concise.
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At present, we're developing and prioritizing the Plan’s Objectives. We are projecting the Q3 2025 for
approval at Council’s discretion and we expect early Q2 to be done Phase I of the Community Impact
Study.
Staff is working integrally with the FAA on many projects. Our Airport Capital Improvement Plan has
been submitted both to the FAA-ADO and the ADOT-Aeronautics Department. It was the most robust
ACIP review process in state history, which makes us very confident moving forward that we are
finally seeing reviews from both ADOT and the FAA that are of a higher caliber, which is very
encouraging.
MR. REEVES and MR. ANDRES have been conducting a great deal of engagement with
performance-based navigation airspace restructuring. This is an FAA-led initiative to restructure
basically all of the SIDs and STARs in the area.
MR. REEVES was placed in the Advisory Committee for the State Aviation System Plan (SASP) for
ADOT. The kickoff meeting was three (3) weeks ago. That advises the State’s Aeronautics
Department on its direction over the next decade, the state of the industry, what we need to get
prepared for, and what we need to catch up to. MR. REEVES is one of just a handful of airport
representatives that are advising the Aeronautics Division. This is further evidence that the City is
really investing in its airport.
Staff has been engaged considerable professional development initiatives over the past few months
as well. MR. REEVES was sent to Harvard University for a week-long leadership certification course
and last week received a 2nd certificate in leadership from the University of Arizona. We are again
engaged heavily with the Arizona Airports Association. For the past five and a half years, in fact, there
has always been a member of Chandler Airport staff serving at the Board of Directors level or at the
Officer’s level of the Arizona Airports Association.
Staff has also become more engaged with the American Association of Airport Executives. Staff
remains engaged with them and their initiatives in much of the same way. The Chamber of
Commerce continues their support of the airport by placing it at the forefront of many of their public
initiatives. They have invited MR. REEVES to speak publicly at their functions.
Staff also attended the GPEC (the Greater Phoenix Economic Council) Summit on Advanced Air
Mobility. This has resulted in in several meetings between MR. REEVES, operators, and the City’s
Economic Development Department.
MR. REEVES attended the NBAA in Las Vegas, NV in October. This was a well-attended conference
and Chandler Airport is on the radar for a lot of operators, both fixed-wing, rotary wing, and eVTOL.
Member Comments/Announcements
COMMISSIONER EHLBECK asked if the next meeting would take place at 5:00 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.
MR. REEVES responded that the public schedule time is 5:00 p.m. until it is changed by the
Commission.
VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. He also stated that some
ideas for moving forward with the runway extension, he thinks events like Airport Day is helpful and
having people sign a petition to support the extension. He encouraged generating other ideas that could
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help build support for the bond, if and when we do that, like education. They should say that they will
build a satellite out here for all of Chandler School District and Gilbert, and they can come and utilize
the Airport STEM site.
Calendar
The next regular Airport Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, at 5:00
p.m., in the Chandler Airport Terminal, 2380 S. Stinson Way.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 6:27 p.m.
______________________________
__________________________________
Ryan Reeves, Secretary
Christopher Hawley, Chairman