PORT ANGELES — The City Council agreed Tuesday that the Port of Port Angeles should wait to sell a 113-acre plot near the airport because the city may want the land.
The council voted unanimously to support a letter from the city Park and Recreation and Beautification Commission, asking the port to wait to sell the land near William R. Fairchild International Airport.
“I really don’t have [a comment] at this time” on the City Council’s action, said Bob McChesney, port executive director, Wednesday.
“I hadn’t really heard anything about it yet.
The port has agreed to sell the land — located between the airport, Lower Elwha Road and Edgewood Drive —to the Dan Morrison Group for $1,050,00.
The group plans to build a 2.5-acre sprint boat race course on the land, and Dan Morrison, one of the four investors, said the group has made no plans for developing the rest of the property.
The sale is expected to close on Aug. 10.
The parks commission wants the port to wait to sell the land until the master plan for the airport is finished, Cutler said.
The city already has removed more than 100 trees from Lincoln Park, adjacent to the airport because of Federal Aviation Administration’s height requirements on approach zones for the airport.
Should new zoning around the airport require an alternative to the park, the 113 acres would be a spot the city would like to have as an option, Cutler said.
The master plan will outline plans and zoning requirements which could affect the surrounding area — including Lincoln Park.
A public hearing before the Port of Port Angeles commission will be required before the sale agreement is formally approved.
That hearing has not been set, McChesney said.
“I can’t really comment because we’ve already agreed to sell the land, although it does require the hearing before the commissioners look at it.”
