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County amends airpark lease with Subtropical Fruit Co.

The County of San Diego has amended its lease agreement with Subtropical Fruit Company for land at Fallbrook Community Airpark.

A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote November 15 reduces the leasehold size from approximately 89 acres to 72.84 acres and also allows the county to modify the size of the leasehold premises in the future upon 180 days notice. The new lease agreement also allows a periodic renegotiation of the rent amount.

Fallbrook Community Airpark, which totals 288 acres, is divided into an area designated for aviation-related use and an area for compatible non-aviation use. The lease with Subtropical Fruit Company dates back to August 1977, when the county supervisors agreed to a sublease agreement between Fallbrook Community Airpark, Inc., which leased the airport from the county, and Cal-Western Vine Corporation. The sublease was assigned from Cal-Western Vine Corporation to Subtropical Fruit Company in May 1984. In June 1997 the county terminated its master lease with Fallbrook Community Airpark, Inc., and in October 1997 the county assumed operational control over the airport. In November 1999 the director of the county’s Department of General Services approved a lease agreement between the county and Subtropical Fruit Company under the same terms and conditions as the original 1984 sublease.

The existing leasehold agreement allows the county to adjust the premises size upon 180 days written notice and allows for a one-time renegotiation of rent. The reduction in the leasehold premises from 89 to 72.84 acres will be effective on December 1. The area being removed is not currently being used by Subtropical Fruit Company, and reducing the premises will improve aviation development by creating better separation between the airport operation area and the non-aviation uses. The reduced leasehold size also allows the eliminated area to be considered for future aviation-related development.

A new base rent amount will be based on the fair market appraisal of $2,200 per acre per year, and cost-of-living adjustments will be included in the rent structure. The original agreement did not allow renegotiated rent to exceed any increase in the Consumer Price Index for the period being adjusted, which prevents the renegotiated rent from exceeding a current amount of $1,310.50 per acre per year. That creates a new total annual rent of $95,462.82, and the amendment will update the defined Consumer Price Index and revise cost-of-living adjustment periods from every five years to every two years until the lease expires on May 7, 2014.

 

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