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WILLOUGHBY – Mentor, Willoughby and other Lake County residents got a look at a multi-million dollar, 20-year master plan for the expansion of Lost Nation Airport during an Aug. 29 open house at the airport’s Classic Jet Center.

Approximately 35 people viewed informational displays on proposed improvement projects and were given an opportunity to make suggestions on the airport’s master expansion plan during the two-hour event. It was the public’s second and final review of the master plan.
“The new master plan must take into account how the airport can best serve the needs of all members of the community,” Airport Manager Patty Fulop said.
The last master plan was completed in 1999, while the existing airport layout plan was approved by the FAA in 2006, she added.
The open house featured multiple showings of a presentation of the master plan process, aircraft operational forecasts and other information required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The development of the master plan was explained by Fulop and Kimberly Fabend, a consultant and managing planner with C&S Companies in Syracuse, N.Y. It would be phased in over two five-year periods with the third and final phase being implemented over 10 years.
The airport is owned by Lake County and operated by the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority. It is a public, general aviation facility located on about 400 acres of land between Lost Nation Road in Willoughby and Reynolds Road (state Route 306) in Mentor.
The master plan provides a future “vision for the airport” and documents the extent, type, and schedule of development required to accommodate existing and future needs, Fulop said.
Lost Nation Airport has two active runways, the Classic Jet Center and non-aviation facilities including the Lost Nation Sports Park and the Players Club banquet facility. The Classic Jet Center has served as the airport’s Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) since 2009 and provides a host of aeronautical services, such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking and aircraft maintenance.
The proposed new master plan includes land set aside for non-aeronautical use as well as aviation use, including the proposed development of 60 T-hangars over the 20-year, phased-in expansion. The airport now has six hangars, including the Classic Jet Center.
Plans call for most single-engine aircraft now in the Classic Jet Center hangar to be relocated to a T-hangar, thereby making additional room for a growing number of small and corporate jets using the airport, Fulop said.
A total of 94 aircraft are expected to be based at Lost Nation by 2021 and 98 by 2036, according to projections.
“When I started here in October of 2014 there were 77 aircraft based here, including one jet, and there are now (a total of) 89, with 10 jets and 2 more (jets) coming here,” she added. “So, if we have these other hangars, we can move the smaller aircraft into them and make more room for jets or turboprops.”
Thirty T-hangers would be built the first five years of the 20-year expansion and the remainder during the next 15 years. In addition, land located on the south side of the west-to-east runway would be reserved for aeronautical business development, while vacant land located to the northeast of Lost Nation Sports Park would have four airport buildings added in the third and final phase of the master plan. Among the non-aeronautical land uses is the possible construction of a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on the northwest side of the airport and land reserved for a Lake County Regional Response Facility to be built behind Mentor Fire Station #4 on Reynolds Road.
The most important improvement to the airport would be the addition of parallel aircraft taxiways for each of the two runways, one which is a northeast to southwest runway while the other is located west-to-east.
“This would provide a safety feature for airplanes the airport doesn’t have now,” Fabend said.
Aircraft currently use the two runways for taxiing as well as takeoffs and landings, Fulop explained.
The master plan also includes construction of a new 10-foot fence with an additional 3-foot-long, 45-degree angled fence at the top. It is to be placed mainly on the Mentor side of the airport to keep deer from wandering onto runways and causing a possible aircraft accident, she added.
Not only is development of the new master plan sought by the FAA, the Port Authority considers Lost Nation Airport to be “a significant economic driver, supporting local businesses, community services, and private pilots.”
Final approval of the master plan is expected by the Port Authority by the end of year following a review by a special advisory committee, the public comments and also recommendations from the FAA.
Regardless, the FAA “has no set timetable” for actually approving airport master plans. Some have been done in about a year while others have taken four years to be approved, Fulop said.
More information about the airport and the development of the master plan is available at: lcport.org/lost-nation-airport or from Fabend at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Fulop at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Submitted Photo
This shows the layout of Lost Nation Airport in the 20-year master plan.