Oct. 28—With inflation hitting hard, real estate and rental prices are at premiums many can't afford, and this issue is only exacerbated in the aviation world where hangar space is already hard to come by.
At the South Lewis County Airport — also known as Ed Carlson Memorial Field — some former hangar tenants are claiming Lewis County staff are selectively choosing who gets to renew their lease as opposed to who is getting evicted.
One of those former hangar owners is Matt Rees, who discovered he had outright lost his hangar in the summer of 2023. He claims he never received any legal notice his lease was expiring. Rees provided The Chronicle with letters between himself and county staff along with lease documents.
"They're renewing some people's leases but not renewing others, and they're sending those letters out like they never sent to us," Rees said. "We never got it. It was never certified or served to us like a legal eviction."
Additionally, Rees said he sent the county a letter of intent stating he wanted to keep renting the hangar prior to the lease's expiration, but county staff say they never received it.
South Lewis County Airport Manager John Roe said lease expiration notices were sent out to tenants, but were never responded to.
With hangar space at a premium and new possible tenants always looking for space, he said he is trying to keep the airport maintained and operational as the lease agreements are the only source of revenue the airport has.
This is also the reason those who have renewed their leases have also seen a sharp increase in lease cost, as rates today are much higher than lease rates 30 years ago, when most of them were originally signed.
The rates at South Lewis County Airport are still cheaper than those at other nearby airports, Roe added.
However, tensions at the small air strip near Toledo are still high, and last week an act of vandalism occurred as someone spray-painted the word "jerk" on one door of the airport manager's office and the phrase "DB Cooper was here" on another. Roe said the word "tyrant" was also spray-painted on the building.
The Lewis County Sheriff's Office is investigating this incident, but Roe said he doesn't expect they'll catch the culprit.
South Lewis County Airport was originally built in 1943 as a training air field for pilots in the U.S. Army Air Force.
After the end of World War II, the Army transferred it to a co-ownership involving the cities of Toledo and Winlock along with Lewis County, Roe said.
Eventually, the governing bodies of both Toledo and Winlock backed out of the co-ownership agreement as it didn't benefit them, leaving the county as the sole owner.
The county then began structuring lease agreements that would allow for tenants to rent land and then build a hangar on top of it.
While the lease was still active, the tenant would be considered the owner of whatever they built, but at the lease's end, the land reverts back to the county along with any improvements made on it.
"That's what happens here at Toledo when a lease is up," Roe said.
Other hangar disputes have come up, as another former tenant, Nancy Anderson, of Chehalis, protested this policy in a Jan. 26 letter to Roe.
"I seriously oppose the practice of confiscating hangar buildings which have been previously purchased from private parties ... I have owned a number of hangars at Caldwell and Homedale, Idaho and one in Boardman, Oregon. I have never had this kind of stipulation imposed at other airports," Anderson said. "I am requesting the hangar property lease be renewed for space #7 on which my hangar is located."
As for Rees's hangar, he originally purchased the leasehold for it along with the hangar itself, a 48-foot by 48-foot box hangar with a bi-fold door, through a Musser Bros. Inc. real estate auction on behalf of the Ron Warren estate in 2021 for $16,927.50.
Warren originally signed a 25-year lease for the hangar with the county in 1988, and extended it for 10 years in 2013. Its expiration date was June 29, 2023.
Rees, who lives and works out of Spokane as the owner of Great Northern Equipment, leases several other hangars throughout the Pacific Northwest as he frequently has to fly to different parts of it to meet with customers.
Often purchasing construction equipment from the nearby Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in Napavine, Rees wanted the convenience of being able to fly in just a few miles away to perform pre-buy inspections and appraisals.
He said he was aware of the lease's end date and even wrote a letter stating his intent to keep renting, but the 90-days written notice never came, according to Rees.
Utility bills for the hangar were still being delivered, which is when Rees's secretary at Great Northern Equipment noticed that electricity usage had suddenly spiked.
"Amanda was like, 'Who's working in the hangar?' So she called around and got a hold of John Roe, who said, 'Well, you forfeited the hangar,'" Rees said.
The power usage spike came from county workers inside the hangar clearing and cleaning it out.
Rees protested against this and threatened legal action, filing a tort claim for the loss of the parts inside the hangar.
In a letter to Rees earlier this year, Lewis County Public Works Director Josh Metcalf said the South Lewis County Airport Director Roe had sent him the 90-days written notice that his lease was expiring.
"In the absence of a written response stating your intent to either retain the building as a month-to-month renter or return the building to Lewis County upon expiration of the lease, the County considered the building and remaining items as 'abandoned,'" Metcalf said in the letter.
The county denied Rees' tort claim, meaning his legal options to pursue compensation for his losses, which he estimated to be around $15,000 in aircraft parts in the hangar, is in legal limbo.
"While it is unfortunate that your lease expired, it was not the result of any negligence on the part of Lewis County, its employees, officers or elected officials. Therefore, we must respectfully deny your claim for damages," Washington Counties Risk Pool claim specialist Adam Robles said in a letter to Rees.
Through his own attorney, Rees has issued one final letter reiterating his former claims, saying he never showed any intent of abandoning the hangar.
"It was unreasonable for the Airport to determine Great Northern had abandoned and the Airport was required to proceed with an unlawful detainer action and provide the required notices before taking possession of the leased premises," attorney James Randall said in a letter.
Rees does not expect the county to respond. He does, however, hope this story sheds more light on the situation, as he believes it's the same as has happened in many other small airports around the nation, including in nearby Yakima.
In many airports, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association believes a trend is occurring where hangars suitable for light aircraft are being destroyed with no replacements available, leaving light aircraft owners scrambling for increasingly fewer spaces.
The South Lewis County Airport is located at 5239 Jackson Highway northeast of Toledo. For more information, visit the county's website at https://tinyurl.com/yt4n3f9r.
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