Harvey Airfield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harvey Airfield, a.k.a. Harvey Field, is a small airport located in Snohomish, Washington. The airfield has one 2750 foot asphalt runway, one 2660 foot turf runway and fourteen hangar bays. It covers an area of approximately 76 acres and is home to over 350 based aircraft including six helicopters and eight multi-engine planes, and nearly two dozen businesses including a hot-air balloon charter business.
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[edit] History
Harvey Airfield was established in 1944 by Noble and Eldon Harvey and Wesley Loback on the Harvey family's property. In 1947, the family added a restaurant, administration building, and a maintenance shop. The airfield was run by Eldon and Marjorie until Richard and Kandace Harvey began managing airfield operations in the early 1970s. After Richard Harvey passed away due to cancer in 1995, Kandace Harvey took over ownership and operation of the aiprort with her four children. They have managed the airfield to date.
[edit] Tourism
Since its establishment, Harvey Airfield has played a key role in attracting tourists to Snohomish. It offers balloon, helicopter and biplane rides to tourists, as well as skydiving. The annual Corn Roast Fly-In in August attracts people from around the region, where they can examine airplanes for sale or show.
[edit] Skydiving
Harvey is home to the Seattle Skydivers, the oldest parachuting club in the United States. Tyson Harvey is the owner of Skydive Snohomish, the skydiving charter on the field. The business oversees almost 15,000 jumps every year.
[edit] Aircraft
Harvey Field is home to over 400-based aircraft and oversees over 140,000 operations per year.
[edit] Issues and Goals
In an article for the Snohomish County Business Journal, Kandace Harvey said, “I face three major challenges: land-use and zoning issues as the area grows around us, operating an airport and industrial park in a flood plain, and aircraft noise, We don’t have a lot of difficulty with the sparsely settled rural residential area around us, but at the north end of our runway, the city of Snohomish is close by, just over the Snohomish River. We do get noise complaints from residents of two blocks of homes there. If our zoning will let us continue to grow, we want to extend our runway by 1,000 feet, which will put aircraft taking off to the north at least another 500 to 700 feet higher. People in town would hardly notice it anymore.”
In 2006, Harvey, with the endorsement and aid of the local chapter of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association fended off a rezoning of the airfield’s adjacent properties that would have affected more than half of the airport’s land and stopped any future expansion.
[edit] Local Impact
Harvey Airfield takes up a sizeable portion of the area that is Snohomish. Its operation has a significant impact on the region economically and environmentally.
[edit] Benefits
A 2001 study by the Washington state Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division credited Harvey Field for providing nearly 450 jobs, more than $7.5 million in annual payrolls and an economic impact on the local community of more than $22.2 million each year. As stated above, the airfield also provides a base for tourism.
[edit] Sources
- Harvey Airfield site
- Snohomish County Business Journal article on Harvey July 2006
