PALMER — A Palmer golf course known for its mountain views could eventually be bulldozed and absorbed into the city’s nearby airport due to requirements in a decades-old federal aviation grant, airport officials said this week.
The land use rules, which city officials have known about since the golf course was developed in the late 1980s, are a renewed point of discussion due to space constraints at Palmer Municipal Airport, an upcoming review of the airport’s comprehensive plan, and a series of recent social media posts on the topic, said City Airport Manager John Diumenti.
The issue will be discussed during a regular Airport Advisory Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday. Diumenti also delivered a briefing on the topic during a regular Palmer City Council meeting Tuesday.
Palmer’s 7,200-yard golf course sits just off the southeast corner of the airport on land owned by the city and purchased as airport property in the 1970s and ‘80s using Federal Aviation Administration grant funds, Diumenti said.
That grant agreement allows the city to use the property for other purposes, including a golf course, as long as the airport has other space to build new hangars that meet commercial-user demand, he said.
But once the facility runs out of other usable land, the agreement requires officials to expand the airport into the golf course property or refund the FAA at the land’s current fair market value, a price tag likely in the millions of dollars, he said.
The airport currently has about three empty lots in the southwest corner of its footprint ready for expansion, with no pending commercial requests, Diumenti said. But with more growth expected and no additional land on tap, city officials will likely need to decide whether to expand into the golf course within the next three to five years or move to buy back the land, he said.
“The clock is ticking on a decision that needs to be made. We don’t need to make this decision tonight,” he said. “This is something for council to think about and plan for moving forward.”
While the golf course regularly generates a small amount of revenue for the city — about $40,000 last year from about 24,000 users, according to city data and golf course officials — the airport has recently operated at a slight loss due to the cost of needed upgrades. In 2024, the airport cost the city about $20,000, according to budget documents.
Any future airport expansion would only happen if required by the FAA and would be to provide hangar and apron space, not extend the runway, Palmer Manager Kolby Zerkel said in a statement.
How the golf course is used will be addressed through a refresh of the airport master plan scheduled for next year, she said.
“The city of Palmer would like to clarify that there are currently no plans to extend the runway at the Palmer Municipal Airport,” she said. “The city remains committed to transparency, public engagement, and careful planning as we move through the master plan process.”
The possible expansion into the golf course is the latest airport issue triggered by FAA funding requirements. A project ordered by agency officials last year required the city to clear aircraft approaches by removing dozens of old-growth trees from Matanuska River Park, the golf course, and a city arboretum – or pay back all federal funding.
Any steps to expand into the golf course would likely happen over a matter of years, rather than take over the entire 144.75 acres immediately, Diumenti said during the meeting.
Palmer resident and avid golfer Dean Beaulieu authored a widely shared social media post on the topic this week to alert members of the public to the issue, he said. Beaulieu, who golfs on the course as part of a Wednesday night league, said he is concerned the city is going to do what’s best for the airport regardless of what the grant agreement requires.
Golf course manager George Collum, who has overseen the facility since 2007 and first learned of the land issue this week, said he expects the city to raise money through local grants and pay the FAA for the land rather than let the golf course go.
“In my personal opinion, that is where this is probably going to go — they’re probably going to buy the land,” he said.
Diumenti plans to present more airport information to the council next month, he said Tuesday. Council members asked to review copies of the FAA land grant agreement.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com
