Garlic City Skydiving

[jclalor 12]

Anyone ever heard of this.

Thanks.

[Andy9o8 0]

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,25041,26761,26849,27520,28099&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=Garlic+City+Skydiving&cp=0&pf=p&sclient=psy&site=&source=hp&aq=0&aqi=&aql=&oq=Garlic+City+Skydiving&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=83f87efc6f926f13

[jclalor 12]

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http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,25041,26761,26849,27520,28099&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=Garlic+City+Skydiving&cp=0&pf=p&sclient=psy&site=&source=hp&aq=0&aqi=&aql=&oq=Garlic+City+Skydiving&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=83f87efc6f926f13

Give me a little credit.

All I could find was the web site still under construction, I was just wondering if anyone knew of a new DZ being started in Gilroy. This would only be 2 miles from my house.

[Andy9o8 0]

oh, sry. i thought u meant garlic city, NJ. my bad

[LongWayToFall 0]

I know that airport, it is a little close to the freeway!

Hollister isn't that much further.... I wish I had a dz 20 minutes away!!!!!

Give those guys a call and see what they say, I am always interested in new dzs opening!

[loltron 0]

Jeff Bodin. County shot down on airport landing about a year ago.

[popsjumper 2]

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Give those guys a call and see what they say, I am always interested in new dzs opening!

Are vampires allowed?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[LongWayToFall 0]

:-D

That airport has a B-25 on the ramp, I drool every time I drive by.... hahaha

[stratostar 5]

FAA rules in favor of skydiving at South County Airport

Posted: Thursday, September 5, 2013 4:43 pm | Updated: 4:56 pm, Thu Sep 5, 2013.

http://www.morganhilltimes.com/articles_from_gilroy/faa-rules-in-favor-of-skydiving-at-south-county-airport/article_e674c91f-dc8b-5047-90d8-1dfa2c47e9d3.html

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The Federal Aviation Administration sees no reason why skydiving should not be allowed at South County Airport in San Martin, and has denied the County’s appeal to forbid Garlic City Skydiving from opening up on its premises.

For Garlic City Skydiving owner Jeff Bodin, the 4.5-year battle with the County’s airport division may finally be over.

“I want to open up the business,” said Bodin, who last week learned of the FAA’s favorable ruling and is now awaiting the County’s next move. “I’m a Gilroy guy. I don’t want to move. South County Airport is ideal. It’s sparsely used. It’s a beautiful location.”

The Santa Clara County’s problem is this: They don’t want skydivers landing near the airstrip situated close and parallel to U.S. 101, and argue that it’s unsafe for the skydivers, passing motorists and aircrafts taking off and landing. They also point to the fact that the airport operates as a reliever airport to the three Bay Area metropolitan airports for small, unscheduled flights.

However, the FAA – which previously did studies on the safety issue and said the findings don’t support the County’s take – concluded none of those are "persuasive arguments" to overturn its initial decision.

Bodin is still hesitant to call the FAA’s ruling a complete victory, however.

“It’s always bittersweet because I don’t know what the County is going to do at this point,” said Bodin, whose attorney, Richard Durden, has already reached out to the County about starting up the skydiving business in San Martin “as soon as possible so that a successful business can provide a benefit to both the County and Mr. Bodin.”

But Bodin said the County can still delay his business from getting off the ground - even though that means existing federal sanctions preventing South County Airport, as well as the two other County-run airports (Palo Alto Airport and Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose), from receiving valuable federal grant funds through its Airport Improvement Program, will remain intact.

“It’s still a waiting game,” Bodin said.

Bodin estimated that his thrill-seeking business would have generated half a million dollars in fuel costs and paid close to $50,000 in rent to the airport over the last 4.5 years. He estimates that his business would draw between 100 to 200 weekend visitors to the area and “provide a revenue stream for the City of San Martin, Gilroy and Morgan Hill.”

But instead, he continued, the County has decided to spend thousands of dollars on attorney fees to fight him every step of the way. In the meantime, he says the County airports, and its occupants, are suffering the consequences.

“It makes absolutely no sense,” said Bodin as to why the County refuses to comply with the FAA ruling to allow skydiving at South County Airport. “The County is in blatant violation to its federal grant agreement.”

In its final determination, signed Aug. 12 by Associate Administrator for Airports Christa Fornarotto, the FAA upheld its original Dec. 19, 2011 ruling stating that there is no reason why Garlic City Skydiving can’t use San Martin’s general aviation airport as its home base and landing spot for thrill-seeking customers.

Assistant Director Eric Peterson for County Airports said that “the County’s next move has not been decided but that decision will come from the Board of Supervisors.” Peterson wasn’t sure exactly when the decision would be made, but “you can be sure it won’t be too long,” he said in an e-mail.

Bodin said the County could take two courses of action to prevent him from doing business. The first would be to sue the federal government and the second would be to simply forget about any future federal funding, set their own rules and spend their own money on airport improvements.

According to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor, it is not uncommon for skydivers to land on airport property. Federal regulations allow airport landings as long as there is prior approval from airport officials, the parachutist is at least 2,000 feet above the airport’s traffic pattern and a two-way radio is used for communication between the pilot and control tower.

At two other local airports in Watsonville and Hollister, where skydiving companies are allowed to operate, skydivers land at a designated area away from the airport property and are transported back. The County had asked Bodin to follow that same procedure in order to start his new business in San Martin.

“The skydiving community is huge. There are 400-500 skydivers just in Bay Area alone,” concluded Bodin, who wants to provide a more convenient service to those customers instead of them having to travel to airports in Davis or Lodi. “We’re going to have a great community here in San Martin and become a very active and contributing member to the airport.”

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[LyraM45 0]

LongWayToFall

I know that airport, it is a little close to the freeway!

Hollister isn't that much further.... I wish I had a dz 20 minutes away!!!!!

Give those guys a call and see what they say, I am always interested in new dzs opening!

I give presentations to the pilot group (SCAPA) there every year. The airport is very close to hwy 101 AND it's one of the fixes on the final for SJC. Lots of traffic coming through. I think it would be a pain in the ass for Oakland Center and NorCal Tracon who work the traffic going through there, but it is what it is.

Does anybody know if these guys are looking to mostly bite into the tandem market and give hollister and monterey a run for their money, or are they marketing fun jumpers hard too? I'd be willing to check this place out since it's only 15-20 mins from home.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[SEREJumper 1]

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I think it would be a pain in the ass for Oakland Center and NorCal Tracon who work the traffic going through there, but it is what it is.

Yep, someone(s) job will take more effort and coordinating. Lots of ATC deal with these same issues across the country every day.

We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

[michaelmullins 77]

Congratulations to Garlic City Skydiving in this hard-won fight and kudos to USPA and its Director of Government Relations Randy Ottinger.

However, I think the name of their DZ stinks :)

Mike Mullins

[TaeKwonDoDo 0]

michaelmullins

Congratulations to Garlic City Skydiving in this hard-won fight and kudos to USPA and its Director of Government Relations Randy Ottinger.

However, I think the name of their DZ stinks :)

Mike Mullins

You should be here around the end of July...

"That's not flying, it's falling with style."

[LyraM45 0]

SEREJumper

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I think it would be a pain in the ass for Oakland Center and NorCal Tracon who work the traffic going through there, but it is what it is.

Yep, someone(s) job will take more effort and coordinating. Lots of ATC deal with these same issues across the country every day.

True.... some areas just more than others. Cross Keys and areas in the NE are ones that comes to mind!

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[bansheeman 0]

Is there an update on this place? The rumors I've heard are its opening this month, they're going to be running a PAC and you have to have a C license to jump there? Can anyone confirm or deny this? Thanks for the info.

[grimmie 173]

I spoke with Jeff yesterday for a long time about his battle. He's finalizing everything with the county and FAA and will probably have a formal announcement out soon.

[bansheeman 0]

oh, cool. keep us updated if you can. thanks!

[stratostar 5]

http://www.morganhilltimes.com/news/community/skydiving-on-the-horizon/article_c1c9e4b0-15fd-56b2-8af7-71cc5c7d09b9.html?success=2

Skydiving on the horizon

Posted: Thursday, November 21, 2013 2:45 pm

Abiding by the Federal Aviation Administration’s final determination to allow skydiving at South County Airport, staff from the County Roads & Airports Department have finalized an operations permit that they will bring before the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors at the Nov. 26 meeting.

The County and local businessman Jeff Bodin had been involved in a squabble over allowing skydiving in San Martin since 2009. After Bodin was denied by the County to land his skydivers on airport grounds, he filed a formal complaint with the FAA, which ruled in his favor. The County refused to comply, not wanting skydivers to land at its airport, and instead filed an appeal. In August, the FAA denied the County’s appeal, forcing its hand to work out an arrangement with Bodin.

County airports had been suffering the consequences of federal sanctions that prevented them from receiving valuable federal grant funds through its Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The county is entitled to $150,000 annually through the AIP. Those funds were being withheld due to non-compliance with federal guidelines.

First, Assistant Director Eric Peterson of County Airports presented a draft for the skydiving operations permit Wednesday to the San Martin Planning Advisory Committee, which can offer its own input before going to the Board of Supervisors.

Peterson was also expected to discuss the proposed name change from South County Airport to San Martin Airport, as well as the County’s desire to apply for a FAA grant to finance a long overdue runway rehabilitation project. The renovations would be done in San Martin as well as the two other county-run airports, Palo Alto Airport and Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose.

“It’s just kind of a relief to have the whole thing over with,” Peterson said.

Back in August, the FAA shot down an appeal by the County to forbid skydiving at San Martin’s general aviation airport. The County stressed safety concerns with allowing thrill-seekers the ability to land on airport grounds due to its proximity to U.S. 101. However, the FAA – which previously did studies on the safety issue and said the findings don’t support the County’s take – concluded none of the County’s points were “persuasive arguments” to overturn its initial decision to allow skydiving.

The FAA ruling was music to the ears of Garlic City Skydiving owner Jeff Bodin - who has been battling to get his business off the ground since 2009 when he filed his formal complaint.

In its final determination, signed Aug. 12 by Associate Administrator for Airports Christa Fornarotto, the FAA upheld its original Dec. 19, 2011 ruling stating there is no reason why Garlic City Skydiving can’t use San Martin’s general aviation airport as its home base and landing spot for thrill-seeking customers.

In the County’s original response to Bodin’s complaint, which led to the federal grant sanctions, the County stated “the proposal creates a hazard to air traffic and to persons and property on the surface that cannot be mitigated.”

However, the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Sept. 9 to not appeal the FAA’s final determination. At that time, District 1 Supervisor Mike Wasserman confirmed that the County has been directed to prepare a plan to allow skydiving to occur under certain conditions at the general aviation airport.

“We have been working on a permit to authorize skydiving at South County Airport,” Peterson confirmed.

He noted that Director Carl Honaker, Bodin and County attorneys helped draft the skydiving permit.

“It’s been a long and arduous negotiation process,” Bodin admitted. “We’re still working through a lot of issues with the County right now. We’re not across the goal line. It will be a while before we are. It’s just a long process.”

Peterson said, with the ability to access the funds that were being withheld, the County is seeking approval from the Board of Supervisors to submit their grant application in January. Peterson previously said the grant money is “valuable” to airport upgrade projects such as the proposed pavement repair work for the runways and airplane taxi areas that have been put on hold.

“That’s a very big positive in getting this saga behind us,” Peterson said.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo