Hangar Owner Worried About Losing Access to Airport

By Christopher Miller

LOCK HAVEN – Lock Haven resident Nils Mantzoros has been worried about losing his access to the airport due to receiving a contract too late.

The agreement, known as a “Residential Through-the-Fence” (RTTF) agreement, allows people who own residential property with aircraft storage facilities near an airport to access the airport from off-airport property. These properties are sometimes known as “hangar homes.”

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 was signed into law in February of 2012 and permits general aviation airports to enter into residential RTTF agreements with property owners or associations representing property owners for noncommercial use.

The recent RTTF agreement is due to the construction of a “fence within a fence,” a recent FAA requirement.

“If the city does not have a signed contract in hand by June 30, I would be denied access to the airport,” Mantzoros said to council Monday evening. “I didn’t receive the certified letter until July 3, after the deadline.”

After receiving the letter, Mantzoros contacted the city solicitor, Justin Houser.

“I called his office when I received the letter, but they were already closed for the July 4 holiday. This morning I called them at 9 a.m., spoke to the secretary, and discussed my concern. I should have a fair amount of time to look at the contract and be able to have my attorney review it and have my questions clarified. You cannot sign a contract that was supposed to be due back seven days ago since the deadline passed. I want more time to deal with it and I think there should be more reasonable time for me to do so,” Mantzoros said.

City Manager Greg Wilson added that since the agreement was sent out through certified mail, he had received two signature cards from others who had received the agreement, and that they were signed and had enough time to come back through the mail before the June 30 deadline, and that the agreement was “substantially unchanged” from what was sent earlier.

“Any changes to this agreement were from the FAA,” Wilson said.

Mantzoros urged that he wishes to have time to discuss the contract with his attorney before signing “the 16 page document.”

“It’s hard to sign an agreement when you don’t have it in time,” he said.

Council member Rick Conklin added that “you are better to sign it now and challenge it later.”

“I have no desire to give anyone a RTTF without a signed contract.”

Council member Steve Stevenson added that if the deadline is missed, you could say “yes, I’m in” before July 14 and then still have access to the airport.

“We need to tell the FAA by July 14 who does or does not have access to the airport,” Wilson said.