PICTURE ROCKS, Ariz. (KGUN) — A proposed private airfield in the Picture Rocks area has left neighbors with concerns, including safety and noise, but a lawyer representing the company behind the proposal says this will allow them to better operate the business when the Marana Regional Airport is busy.
The airfield is proposed to be constructed on about 410 acres of land near Manville and Reservation Roads. The company behind it is Marana Tactical Flight, LLC, which is owned by Patrick Nikitenko. The company conducts parachuting instruction and training for military personnel.
Nearby residents, like Greg Sprenger, found out about the proposal this summer, but he started seeing activity in recent years.
“We started noticing some paratroopers, or people parachuting, onto the property adjacent to kind of the homes out there,” he explained.
Nikitenko’s attorney, Rory Juneman, did confirm, but said it has now stopped.
“He’s allowed on a very limited basis, some jumpers from Davis Monthan to occasionally come and use it.”
He also said it was used one day by a company to test firefighting equipment.
An application has not yet been submitted to Pima County. An employee of the county said they have addressed its use with them, and it has stopped.
However, if the proposal is approved, residents may see activity again. Due to this, more than 70 people, some of whom live about a quarter of a mile away from the proposed runway, gathered on Wednesday evening for a community meeting. Concerns of residents included their property values, the environmental impact, noise and safety.
Sprenger said the peace and quiet are reasons he chooses to live in the area.
“I drive an hour every day to work, one way, so two hour commute to enjoy the peace and quiet,” he explained.
Juneman said they are in the process of getting a noise study done.
“We believe that the noise impact will be limited, but we want to be able to use an engineer to show that,” Juneman said.
Sprenger said he has had some safety concerns over the last couple of years.
“We actually had people landing on our properties at night in full military gear, night vision,” he said.”
I asked Juneman about safety concerns and activity on residents’ properties.
“By building the airstrip and building a hangar and designating the land zone, he is very comfortable that those concerns won’t happen,” Juneman said. “That there will not be issues with landing off of his property. When he’s doing these jumps, he’ll make sure that those clients are briefed on exactly where they should land and if they have problems – where they can land that isn’t affecting those neighbors next door.”
He said the airfield would primarily be used in spring and winter when scheduling can get tighter at the Marana Regional Airport.
“It’ll be a dirt airstrip with one hangar, possibly another smaller storage area, a couple of airplanes typically operating out of there, mostly those operations will be in the morning and ending around lunch time,” he said.
Juneman said they plan to formally submit an application to the county in the next few weeks and anticipate the entire process to take four to six months.
