FAA finds Texas airport violated federal obligations
Agency-initiated investigation followed 2022 land sale
The FAA has found the sponsor of Pearland Regional Airport—a privately owned, public-use airport near Houston—in violation of four federal grant assurances after it sold airport property to a developer that is building hundreds of homes immediately adjacent to the airport.
The FAA’s determination letter, issued on June 22, orders Clover Acquisition Corp., which owns the airport, to submit a corrective action plan within 30 days explaining how it will return the airport to compliance. Clover has since been granted an extension until September 30.
In July 2022, TxDOT notified Clover that AOPA and multiple airport users had expressed concern about the proposed residential development, which would include “approximately 420 residential units in a 55-acre area adjacent to” the airport. TxDOT referred the matter to the FAA, which opened a Part 16 investigation later that year.
“While the FAA has opened numerous investigations over the years, they are usually the result of formal complaints. However, in this case, the FAA opened this investigation on its own, which shows the agency had concerns about this case from the beginning,” said AOPA Central Southwest Regional Manager Tom Chandler.
The FAA found that Clover sold 41 acres of airport property to The Landing at Pearland in May 2022 for “$10 and other good and valuable consideration,” then granted the developer a permanent drainage easement across land that remained federally obligated. Neither transaction was approved by the FAA.
In its determination letter, the FAA found Clover in violation of four grant assurances: Grant Assurance 5, Preserving Rights and Powers; Grant Assurance 20, Hazard Removal and Mitigation; Grant Assurance 21, Compatible Land Use; and Grant Assurance 29, Airport Layout Plan. The agency separately found Clover violated federal statute by granting the drainage easements without FAA authorization.
On compatible land use, the FAA cited its own compliance manual, which states there is no justification for putting a residential development on or near a federally obligated airport. Portions of the neighborhood fall within the 65-decibel day-night average sound level contour shown on the airport’s own FAA-approved layout plan, which the FAA said means that Clover knew the parcel was incompatible before it sold it.
The agency also cited concerns over the construction of a large detention pond next to the runway and said that Clover never conducted a wildlife hazard assessment or warned pilots about bird activity. The pond also sits on ground the airport's approved layout plan had reserved for a future parallel taxiway.
Clover has argued since 2022 that it sold no federally obligated land, that the drainage area had no possible aeronautical use, and that it retains a 20-percent stake in The Landing, giving it leverage to impose restrictions on residents. The FAA rejected each argument and noted that Clover provided no evidence of the equity stake and that homeowner rules cannot substitute for preventing an incompatible use the sponsor was in a position to stop.
