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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
City can't remove hangar during legal proceedings
DAVENPORT—The city and airport can’t tear down, demolish or remove the hangar belonging to Kevin Leyva and Greg’s Crop-Care Company during the proceedings for a civil suit filed by the latter against the city, presiding judge Jeffrey S. Barkdull said in a ruling filed Tuesday, Aug. 2.
The order granting the preliminary injunction was made after the court heard the original petition for declaratory judgment, the company’s subsequent motion for a preliminary injunction, the city’s response and a declaration by city administrator Steve Goemmel.
The court found that Leyva could suffer “irreparable harm” if the preliminary injunction wasn’t granted, “finding further that based on the evidence submitted, the petitioner has established a clear, equitable and legal right to relief” and that he has a “well-grounded fear of invasion of that right” by the airport and city, filings state.
No bond was required in the injunction.
Goemmel’s declaration stated that the city notified Greg’s Crop-Care Company in April 2021 that the city wouldn’t be renewing the company’s airport lease and was cancelling it effective June 1, 2021.
The motion for a preliminary injunction was filed in Superior Court Wednesday, July 27, where Greg’s Crop-Care Company said the city indicated that it would remove Leyva’s hangar and charge him for all costs incurred after July 31, 2022.
The city’s response to the motion said Greg’s Crop-Care Company refused to vacate the premises after the lease was cancelled with advance notice in 2021, making the company an airport trespasser. The city also said in its filing that the motion for an injunction preventing the city from removing the hangar contradicts the original petition for declaratory judgement demanding the city move the hangar at no cost to the company.
The request would require the hangar to remain in an FAA-designated Runway Protection Zone, “which creates an imminent threat to the safety of airplanes, pilots and passengers at the Davenport Airport,” the city alleged in its July 29 filing.
But the hangar isn’t going anywhere for now, Barkdull’s ruling declared. A future court date wasn’t indicated in documentation.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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