Aurora airport backers win legal ruling in battle with land-use foes

Backers of an Aurora State Airport expansion project south of Wilsonville have won a key legal ruling in a battle involving the reach of Oregon’s system for protecting farmland from urban development.

The Oregon Board of Land Use Appeals ruled Wednesday that the airport’s master plan – which calls for extending the runway by 1,000 feet – does not need to prove that it meets the state’s land-use goals. The decision was a defeat for 1000 Friends of Oregon, a group dedicated to protecting strict land-use controls, and for the cities of Wilsonville and Aurora.

Bruce Bennett, an aircraft broker at the airport involved in the litigation, said the ruling vindicated the position of airport backers that the project did not raise significant land-use concerns.

“It’s really good news,” said Bennett, adding that the legal action “was an absurd misunderstanding, and a waste of time and money fighting safety improvements.”