Apple Valley Airport is a private

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located one mile southeast of

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

in Washington County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Built in 1994 by a

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

TV personality Rod Anders, the subsequent owners have pushed to expand operations at the airport. Near U.S. 26 west of the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...

, the long turf airstrip is used for agricultural operations.

History

The airstrip was constructed in 1994 by Rod Anders, known as "Ramblin' Rod" to

TV viewers, for his private airplane alongside his

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

home. In 2004, Mike and Jennie Applebee purchased the property and airstrip from the estate of Anders. In 2005, the owner announced plans to convert the airstrip into a commercial operation and include services such as flight training. Owner Jim Applebee was issued citations by the county in June 2005 for operations at the airport. Neighbors formed a group to oppose the conversion and hired an attorney. The application failed as incomplete and the citations were dismissed by the court. In 2006, the owners filed again with the county to expand the use of the airport, which was to include commercial use and the basing of ten aircraft with usage to total 3,016 departures each year. A land-use meeting was held in September 2006, with the county denying the application for commercial use at the airport. In 2007, the Applebees appealed the county's decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), but lost the decision in June. Later LUBA sent part of the case back to the county and the Applebees were allowed to have agricultural operations at the airstrip, but they dropped an appeal to the

Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...

in November 2007 and announced plans to sell the property. In October 2008, the Applebees received initial approval to expand the airport grounds by adding a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

, parking lot, and

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

Details

The long grass strip runway is located in rural Washington County near the community of Buxton, adjacent to the Sunset Highway. Owned by Applebee Aviation, the airport is east of Fisher Road on the north side of the highway in the foothills of the

Northern Oregon Coast Range The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part o ...

. The airport is used as a base for agricultural based aviation such as spraying crops with pesticides and fertilizers. An unattended private facility, it is at an elevation of above sea level with a runway alignment of 11/29.

References

External links

{{US-airport-minor, OR61 Airports in Washington County, Oregon 1994 establishments in Oregon