1,700 trees to be cut at So. Lake airport

South Lake Tahoe - The city here has asked regulators for a permit to cut down an additional 1,725 trees around Lake Tahoe Airport.

City Attorney Catherine DiCamillo and City Manager David Jinkens said the trees must be removed to comply with state aviation safety regulations.

The tree-removal application is under review by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which regulates development at Tahoe under mandates from Congress and the California and Nevada legislatures.

The city has been exploring its options with the Caltrans Division of Aeronautics after night operations were suspended last month because of failure to comply with safety regulations.

Operations were allowed to start up again last week.

The number of trees needing removal will depend on what type of airport the city hopes to operate, according to Patrick Miles, California's airport safety officer for El Dorado County.

"The city now knows that there are options within federal and state design standards that say if you have a lower category of airport, you don't have to protect as large an area around it," Miles said.

To seek the highest classification, called C3, the airport would have to remove many more than 1,700 trees, Miles said.

Airport Manager Smokey Rickerd contacted Miles in February to seek technical advice on how to bring the airport into compliance with FAA requirements for commercial air service. Subsequent visits by Miles to the airport revealed safety issues had not been addressed for several years.

Caltrans reopened operations at the airport last week. The airport operates at a loss of $500,000 per year, which is made up for by city subsidies.

John Friedrich, with the League to Save Lake Tahoe, said the number of trees now under review raises more questions about the airport's costs and benefits to the community.

"What type of airport operations require that number of trees to be cut down for safety purposes?" he said.

"The city is pushing ahead to do things to seek commercial service while trying to push past the settlement agreement terms that limit noise."

DiCamillo said the city's 1987 settlement agreement with TRPA, the California attorney general's office and the League "guarantees all levels of service until 2012."

Friedrich countered that the settlement includes both "rights and responsibilities."

• Contact Amanda Fehd at afehd@tahoedailytribune.com or 530-542-8033.