State lawmaker asks: Should Salt Lake City own the airport in West Jordan?

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The tragic plane crash Saturday in West Jordan put it back on the minds of many — why does Salt Lake City own the airport that sits in another city?

“We clearly know the risk to this community, but what is the benefit?” said Kim Coleman, who represents West Jordan in the state house. “That is always the follow-up question. What are we getting out of this airport anyway?”

Coleman would say — nothing. And she’s spent years and countless hours trying to change that, even enlisting help from Utah’s congressional delegation to get meetings with federal officials who have clout.

“There are no revenues that benefit the city or the citizens of West Jordan City — so we kind of have all the downsides and none of the good sides,” Coleman said.

The good side, she says, is economic development. The airport could be a draw for business, but she says it’s not.

Salt Lake City owns the airport and airport officials confirm it loses at least a million dollars every year.

“It’s just not top of the priority list for Salt Lake City or the international airport right now,” Coleman said. “This could be a tremendous economic asset for the city.”

West Jordan City, specifically.

Even if a business could be lured to the area on the hope of using the airport, Coleman said they couldn’t get hangar space. Demand for hangars has long outweighed the supply, she said.

Bill Wyatt, Salt Lake City’s executive director of airports, disagrees.

“If there were sufficient paying demand for more hangars at South Valley, there would be more hangars at South Valley,” he said.

Wyatt says small airports are a tough business and Salt Lake has the resources and expertise to make it work anyway. But the two cities are beginning to put their heads together about ways to make the airport worthwhile for West Jordan.

A memorandum of understanding was signed late last year by the two mayors.

“(It) directs the two cities to meet on a regular basis and to look at opportunities for development of the airport, and particularly those that might benefit West Jordan,” Wyatt said.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall issued a statement about the memorandum, saying in part:

“We kicked off those conversations with them several months ago and have a plan in place to schedule regular meetings. Of course issues related to COVID-19 have impacted the trajectory of some plans, but we’re working together as cities to make headway and continue to enjoy working together...”

Representatives of West Jordan City initially agreed to an on-camera interview for this story, but called shortly before it was to take place to cancel.

Coleman would like to see Salt Lake City give the airport to West Jordan City. She says colleagues in the state and federal government have already worked out a legal framework to do so.

Because airport money is required by law to stay with an airport, she says the taxpayers of Salt Lake City wouldn’t have anything to lose. Airport revenues cannot fund teachers or firefighters, for example.

Wyatt says the South Valley airport does have value to the Salt Lake International Airport. Without a general aviation airport to which it could refer people, he said federal regulations would require them to service more general aviation and small business clients for which the international airport doesn’t have space.

Wyatt adds that it is not uncommon for large cities to own general aviation airports in suburbs, listing Portland as one West Coast example.