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Robert and Norma Daniels near the chainlink fence they erected in January on their property adjacent to the Miles airstrip.     Photo by Les Anderson

Neighborhood feud
By Amy Houston
Last Updated: October 07, 2005

Miles Airport was established in 1958 in Valley Center.

Norma Daniels, a longtime resident of Miles Avenue, flew out of it to watch her son play football at Kansas State University. The trip saved time for her, which was important because she kept busy as a state senator.

Howard Botts, who has lived on Miles for more than two decades, used the airstrip to fly employees, drawings and parts to Bloomington, Ill., where new avionics technology was developed. It allowed his former business, B&D Instruments, to thrive.

Now, years later, the neighbors are on opposites sides of a civil lawsuit that pertains to the airstrip. Botts, who is part of a corporation that owns the airstrip, claims that Daniels’ fence encroaches on the airstrip and endangers pilots. Daniels, who has urged the Valley Center City Council to shut it down, maintains that the airstrip is dangerous, regardless of the fence’s presence.

Council members have been reluctant to act on the matter. But Botts and Daniels expect a court resolution soon.

The history


Robert “Doc” and Norma Daniels built their home at 130 S. Miles in January 1959. Airplane enthusiasts involved in the early stages of the airstrip were George White, Al Cross, Charles Peters and Joe Robison.

The airstrip used to extend from 77th Street North to 85th Street North, said the Danielses’ son, Bob. Eventually, he added, 40 feet of the airstrip was taken to develop a flood-control ditch on the east side.

Howard Botts moved to 158 S. Miles in 1980, purchasing a home that Harley Miles built. Botts explained that he worked in the aircraft instruments and avionics business, which sparked his interest in flying airplanes.

He said he needed to be a pilot to design instrumentation and avionics for the aircraft industry. He rented planes that sometimes suffered maintenance problems, so he didn’t feel comfortable until he could fly his own plane that he knew was properly maintained.

As a result, Botts purchased Robison’s hangar and one-fourth of the runway in the late 1980s.

“That’s why I bought my house,” Botts recalled, “is because he said he would give me first option on the hangar and his part of the runway.”

The Daniels family didn’t own a plane, and Norma Daniels said she never flew from the airstrip to Topeka during her stint as a state legislator from 1981 to 1993. However, she said, she told Cross one day in 1982 that she wanted to attend the Valley Center Fall Festival and watch her son play football at K-State, but the festival and the game were on the same day.

Daniels said Cross offered to fly her to Manhattan because he needed the hours in the air. She recalled that they left after the festival parade and arrived at the game as the national anthem was played.

Daniels said they repeated the trip in 1983, and each time, she returned to Valley Center with her family members, who had driven to Manhattan.

She added that pilots sometimes asked if they could use part of the Danielses’ back yard for fly-ins, and they agreed. That occurred even after the City of Valley Center annexed the airstrip.

The annexation occurred in 2000. During a Valley Center Planning Commission meeting last year, Community Development Officer Eldon Miller explained that the city limits and housing had grown up to the airstrip after it was established. The airstrip was annexed as an R-2 single-family area and classified as a legal nonconforming use.

The grass airstrip is owned by Center Aviation, which includes four couples who are shareholders. They are Howard and Joyce Botts, Wayne and Bev Bormann, Dick and Diane Curtis and Don and Shelly Aviles.

Howard Botts said the airstrip is 35 feet wide and stretches about 2,500 feet long. It is adjacent to five hangars, he said, and averages two airplane flights a week.

Less than a year ago, Botts continued, Miles Airport was renamed Hidden Valley Airport. His explanation: Owners liked the name.

“It’s not something that you would look at and say, ‘Oh, that’s an airport’ because it’s got a drainage ditch that runs along the east side,” he said. “And consequently it just sort of blends into that.”

Botts owns a light-colored hangar near the airstrip that is next to a red hangar he used to own. Botts said he bought the latter hangar from Peters’ wife, Charlotte. She was preparing to sell her home to Frank and Janice Chase, but they didn’t want the hangar or a portion of the runway.

As a result, Botts purchased both. Now, the Bormanns own the red hangar and one-fourth of the runway.

The dispute

In June 2004, Valley Center’s board of zoning appeals held a public hearing for a conditional-use permit. Wayne Bormann, 202 S. Miles, requested the permit so he could build a second hangar. Bormann said he wanted one because of his background in airplanes and his interest in restoring them.

“I have a unique talent, a very unique talent,” Bormann told the board. “And this is where I want to do it. This is my home.”

He said the hangar would be 54 feet wide and 60 feet deep with a 13-foot door, but the height was undetermined. Bormann said it would be 6 feet from the Danielses’ property line, and a 6-foot fence would be built with a trellis on top where vines could grow.

Al Hobson, chairman of the board of zoning appeals, said then that the group’s concern was Bormann’s potential to do work for hire. Bormann said the new structure wouldn’t be a commercial-use hangar.

Bormann said he liked warbirds and antiques. He explained that he had been a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, a test pilot and an airline pilot.

“Aviation is more than a passion for me,” Bormann added then. “It’s a lifestyle.”

Board member John Dailey asked what would happen if Bormann used the hangar for commercial purposes. Miller said it would lose its conditional use.

Robert and Norma Daniels and two of their daughters, Jeanne Daniels and Mary Porter, spoke in opposition to the plan. So did Susan LaForge, 120 S. Miles, the daughter of George White.

LaForge said her airplane hangar, which houses White’s old plane, had never been used for profit. She cautioned that Bormann’s second hangar would lead to increased activity and noise on the airstrip.

Robert Daniels, describing a second hangar as a likely “eyesore,” added that Bormann didn’t want to construct it for his health or hobby.

“He wants to make some money out of it,” Robert Daniels remarked.

Bormann responded that he didn’t anticipate much activity change on the airstrip as a result of a second hangar.

“I don’t see a problem here,” he told the board.

Board members voted 3-2 to table the issue that night. Bormann said this week he was surprised by the delays his proposed hangar encountered because the Curtises had easily received permission to construct a 40-foot-by-70-foot hangar near the airstrip.

He said the Curtises’ plan may have elicited less opposition because their hangar is more than 200 feet from the Danielses’ property. Bormann decided to modify his proposal and add 30 feet to the front of his hangar, which faces the airstrip, instead of building a second hangar.

“I did that because of her concern,” he said of Norma Daniels.

Bormann reiterated this week that he is retired and has no plans to open. He said he wanted more space to restore an old warbird and conduct a few annual inspections for friends’ airplanes. Bormann added that he wanted to conduct enough inspections to pay the cost of maintaining his part of the runway.

“This was for my own pleasure and enjoyment,” he said.

Bormann’s hangar addition was approved in September 2004. Botts said that action is what prompted the Daniels family to begin working to eliminate the airstrip.

“I would bet on that, yes,” Botts said.

Norma Daniels and her son acknowledged that concern about increased use of the airstrip was foremost.

“They were creating a business out here,” said Norma Daniels, adding that it would be dangerous for planes to fly in for repairs so close to houses.

During the Valley Center City Council meeting last week, Hobson said Bormann met the criteria one year ago to expand his airplane hangar. He said he lost some good friends--the Danielses, Susan LaForge and her husband, Jerry--over the issue.

“But we made a decision, and it was the correct decision,” Hobson continued.

The Daniels family disagreed. Even so, Norma Daniels said this week that Hobson hadn’t necessarily lost her as a friend.

“He has lost a trust,” she remarked, “not a friendship.”

Bormann’s hangar addition never materialized. His plans were put on hold by a lawsuit filed this year.

The lawsuit


The back yard at 130 S. Miles features a 50-foot-by-50-foot basketball court that is 30 years old. Robert and Norma Daniels own at least 35 feet of land east of the court, and airplanes have taken off and landed across their property line, said Botts.

That stopped in January, when a chainlink fence was built 6 inches inside the Danielses’ property line. The fence is 5 feet tall and about 145 feet across the Danielses’ yard.

Norma Daniels said she contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to clear the appropriate height for a fence and other regulations with the agency. Daniels said she was told that the FAA has no jurisdiction over her private property.

Daniels said she and her husband decided to place a fence there after the board of zoning appeals OK’d Bormann’s request for a hangar expansion. She said no markings identified the airstrip, and she was concerned that her four young grandchildren who play outside would drift out of the yard and onto the airstrip.

“We didn’t ask for this lawsuit,” Daniels continued. “We didn’t do it for any other reason except to protect my grandchildren.”

In an effort to keep her grandchildren out of harm’s way, Daniels has endangered the pilots who use the airstrip, said Botts. He admitted that they probably could fly in and out of the area without encroaching on the Danielses’ property, but he said a crosswind or wind gust could send a plane hurtling into the fence and kill the pilot.

The Daniels family argued that Bormann’s plan included a fence across his property that would have been near their lot.

“Ours would have abutted his,” Norma Daniels said of the fences.

She also pointed out that Susan LaForge used cones and tires painted white to indicate where her property line was. Botts said the obstructions presented by the LaForges and Danielses were safety hazards.

“At least one-third of the airport is not even usable other than for taxiing because of that,” he said.

Robert and Norma Daniels received notice in February that they had been sued, along with the LaForges, by the members of Center Aviation. Botts said they asked for adverse possession of the eastern 35 feet of land owned by the Danielses and LaForges. Adverse possession is a method of obtaining ownership rights of private property for a designated period, usually several years.

If the judge is not inclined to award adverse possession, Botts said, the group will accept the designation of the land as easements or just an order to remove anything above ground that’s a nuisance or hazard.

“We were not the ones to instigate the lawsuit until the fence was stuck out in the middle of the runway,” Botts said, “and then we have no alternative but to draw suit to try and get it removed.”

Hearings took place June 1 through 3 in Sedgwick County District Court. Judge Timothy Lahey--who presides over civil suits against BTK killer Dennis Rader--has walked the airstrip but has not reached a decision.

Neighborhood changes


Bormann approached the board of zoning appeals in March and asked for a six-month extension for his hangar addition due to the civil suit. The board voted 4-2 to approve a 180-day extension.

“We can’t afford to not see this through until that fence comes down,” said Bormann, who expressed concern this week about property values that would be compromised as a result of the fence blocking the airstrip.

Bormann spends most of his time in Botts’ hangar and uses the red hangar to store his plane. Bormann said he wants to refurbish the red hangar, adding paint, heating and air conditioning, and window shutters and planters.

However, he went on, he has given up on his desire for more space. He said even an addition to his hangar must meet the city’s approved conditions, such as building a fence between his land and the Daniels property and limiting the number of “events” to 25 a month. An “event” would include Bormann’s work on an airplane ranging from a tire change to an annual inspection.

“All I want is to get back to normal,” said Bormann.

Bob Daniels said the plaintiffs indicated they would appeal judicial decisions unless they received everything they asked for in the lawsuit. He said litigation is expensive, and that’s why the Daniels family urged the city to step in.

The family’s opinion is that, years ago, lawmakers’ intent was to phase out nonconforming uses. The Danielses believe the city government has encouraged a nonconforming use--the airstrip--to grow by approving Bormann’s request for a hangar expansion.

Botts said Bob Daniels was misrepresenting Center Aviation’s position on a possible appeal.

“We have no alternative but to appeal if we’re not able to use the runway safely,” said Botts. “We don’t really care whether we have their property or not, but we can’t afford to have obstructions sticking out in the middle of the runway.”

Bormann said Center Aviation is willing to work with the Daniels family as long as the fence is removed. He added that the plaintiffs offered to buy the 35 feet of ground from the Danielses, but they refused.

Botts said he just realized in the past year that the 35 feet of land in question belonged to the Danielses and LaForges--and he thought those families recently discovered that fact, too. He said a survey was conducted when Bormann was pursuing his second hangar, and the surveyors placed stakes--which denote property lines--closer to the airstrip than many expected.

Center Aviation is responsible for maintaining the runway, and Botts said the corporation has maintained the land where the Danielses’ fence now stands since 1986.

Daniels said she and her family purchased that land in 1974 and have paid taxes on it since then. She also said they have maintained it.

“But they didn’t,” Botts remarked.

Either way, no one denies that the airstrip--along with the Daniels and Botts families--have been longtime fixtures on Miles. So why is there a problem now?

Although the scenery near the airstrip has not changed due to Bormann’s proposed hangar expansion, it has been altered through the years as houses have been constructed. Bob Daniels said four homes initially were located on Miles and nothing rested to the north or south, so airplanes could taxi at a slow rate and then speed up.

“They don’t use property that’s a wheat field anymore. It’s back yards,” he explained. “That’s the real difference there.”

A matter of safety


Norma Daniels complained to the Valley Center City Council that the airstrip is unsafe because it draws planes that fly near homes, Sunflower Gardens senior residences and the Public Safety Building. She said it is used not only by standard airplanes but by helicopters, ultralights and home-built planes.

Last week, she reminded council members that a large utility pipe of gas runs down the center of the airstrip.

“Is it really safe?” she asked.

Botts said this week he wasn’t worried about the line because Williams Natural Gas replaced the pipeline about five years ago. Botts said it is 6 to 8 feet underground and extends all along the runway.

Another feature that extends the length of the runway is the drainage ditch. Botts said a plane in distress could land there because it’s an unpopulated area.

“That adds to the safety portion of it,” he continued.

The Danielses maintain that the airstrip is a hazard, and they use their home insurance coverage as proof. Norma Daniels said she and her husband learned this year that their insurance company may cancel their coverage and force them to use “one of the big underwriters.” Bob Daniels interjected that insurance companies rely on zoning regulations to protect residential areas from planes flying nearby.

Botts said he has had no trouble securing insurance for his hangar or his house, and he was confident he didn’t pay higher rates as a result of his location. He attributed the possibility of cancellation to the existence of the fence at the airstrip.

Asked if she believed the fence was a safety hazard, Norma Daniels said there were two ways to look at the issue. One is that airplane pilots are adults who are licensed and aware of potential danger, she said.

“If you can’t take off before you get to the fence, use another airport,” Daniels advised.

“The other half (of the issue) is how much do I care about my grandchildren?” she added.

Botts said many housing additions have runways on both sides, and residents move there because they appreciate the opportunity to fly in and out of a local airport.

“They aren’t unsafe, and ours isn’t unsafe,” Botts said. “The only thing that makes ours unsafe is a fence sticking out in the middle of it.”






















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