Dozens of pilots and hangar owners gathered outside the Clark County Government Center this week, chanting “What do we want? Land leases. When do we want them? Now!” as their decades-old ground leases at North Las Vegas Airport edge closer to expiration with no renewal in sight. At the center of the fight is an accusation that Clark County Director of Aviation James Chrisley promised to renew the leases, then reversed course and moved toward taking ownership of hangars that private owners built and paid for themselves.
Tim Ross, who has owned his hangar at North Las Vegas Airport for nearly 20 years, said Chrisley initially pledged to renew the leases before appearing to change direction and pursue a plan that would let the county take the hangars without compensating their owners, according to KTNV. Ross has proposed an alternative: setting aside 30 acres for hangar owners and renewing their leases for another 30 years. He went further, accusing Chrisley of lying to hangar owners about the county's intentions.
Clark County owns the land beneath the roughly 300 privately built hangars at the airfield, and the county has yet to produce a new long-term lease agreement despite the looming deadlines, per the same KTNV report. The affected owners have organized as the Hangar Owners Group, which represents hangar owners and users at North Las Vegas Airport and is legally represented by aviation attorney Jeffrey A. Lustick, according to a post in the Las Vegas Pilots and Flyers Facebook Group. Real estate listings tracked by HangarDirect show existing 30-year ground leases at the airport scheduled to begin expiring as early as May 31, 2034, a timeline that already complicates efforts by owners to sell or refinance their properties.
A Consulting Contract Fuels Owner Outrage
Clark County entered into a reversion policy contract with an outside consulting firm, the article notes, and county officials say the firm is helping them understand practices at airports across the country. Pilot advocates have said the Clark County Department of Aviation authorized $106,460 to hire the out-of-state firm to develop the disputed hangar reversion policy, according to a post shared in the same Las Vegas Pilots and Flyers Facebook Group, and they contend county leadership approved the contract over the objections of airport tenant groups.
The tension isn't new. On March 19, 2026, the county signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hangar Owners Group pledging transparency and good-faith work on lease negotiations, according to a post on the Veterans In Politics International Facebook Page. Owner representatives say no lease redlines were ever produced by the county following that agreement. Then, during an August 27 meeting, the county's consultant presented policy options under which hangar ownership would automatically revert to Clark County at either the start or conclusion of a replacement lease, converting ground-lease holders into facility tenants who would pay building rent, per a separate post from Veterans In Politics International.
County Says No Hangars Will Be Removed
Chrisley has said the airport could grow while keeping the existing hangars in place, and he has stated that no hangars would be removed and that the airport has no intention of removing the operators, according to the KTNV report. Ross said Chrisley's position appeared to shift at a more recent private meeting, though the specifics of that shift were not detailed. Clark County has said it hopes to have a new lease agreement in place by the end of the year, and Chrisley is continuing to meet with hangar owners to discuss the agreement.
Protesters, unconvinced, are calling for Chrisley to step down. Ross said many veterans among the hangar owners want to sell their properties but cannot, because there is no long-term lease in place, and lease uncertainty is creating broader problems for owners trying to sell. The next meeting between the county and hangar owners is scheduled for Thursday, September 3.
Federal Rules Don't Require Reversion, Advocacy Group Says
Chrisley took over as Clark County Director of Aviation in September 2025 after the retirement of longtime director Rosemary Vassiliadis, stepping into oversight of Harry Reid International Airport, North Las Vegas Airport, and three other regional facilities, as Hoodline previously reported. Chrisley spent more than 21 years in the U.S. Air Force before joining county airport management.
North Las Vegas Airport opened as Sky Haven Airport on December 7, 1941, and now serves as Nevada's second-busiest public airport and its primary general aviation reliever facility, backed by more than $40 million in Clark County capital investments, according to the Clark County Department of Aviation. Legal analysis published by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association notes that FAA policy and grant assurances do not actually compel airports to enforce reversionary clauses, citing federal precedent including the 2006 case Clarke v. City of Alamogordo — even as FAA guidance encourages airports to pursue long-term financial self-sustainability. Similar disputes over ground lease reversion have played out at other municipal airports nationwide, including Shreveport Downtown Airport in Louisiana and Chico Airport in California, according to Centurion Planning & Design, which found that airport operators frequently encounter fierce tenant resistance when shifting from land leases to municipal facility management.
Pilot advocacy groups have also raised separate concerns about Clark County's exclusive control over aviation fuel sales at North Las Vegas Airport, where the county operates as the sole Fixed-Base Operator, unlike many general aviation airports that allow competing private fuel providers, according to Nevada News and Views.
