County looks to develop land at Chino Airport

If San Bernardino County has its way, Chino Airport will eventually become more than a regional airport.

It will become a regional airport with much commercial development attached to it, enough to create a buffer between the airport and the surrounding community, according to a 56-page staff report.

The general-aviation airport, which is owned and operated by the county, has 300 acres of open space that is ripe for commercial development, according to Brett J. Godown, the county’s director of airports.
Godown stressed that the project is “still in the planning stages,” but said the goal is to bring aeronautical, and non-aeronautical, development to Chino Airport, which covers 1,150 acres in the southeast part of the city. It’s surrounded by land zoned commercial, industrial and residential uses, and is known primarily for recreational flying and training pilots.

It also hosts training exercises for firefighters and rescue personnel.

Chino Airport logged more than 200,000 operations in 2024, and it’s expected to top that number this year, according to a county statement.

The proposed project is in its first phase, in which the department of airports asks developers to confirm their interest in the project and establish their credentials for doing so. Department officials will then settle on who they want to hire, begin negotiating leases, and get the project approved by the board of supervisors.

Ultimately, the project must help strengthen the community that surrounds the airport, said Terry Thompson, director of the county’s real estate services.

“There are ideas [being developed], and our plan is to involve the community throughout the process,” Thompson said in the statement. “We want to build something that people view as an asset that everybody can be proud of.”

One example of that is the buffer zone concept, which would put into place land uses that would improve the airport and the neighborhoods that surround it. To cite one possible example, a car wash or dry cleaner on Kimball Avenue “could serve as sound and visual barriers, while complimenting aeronautical land use, and benefit the community twofold,” at the statement reads.

Aeronautical development might be an aircraft charter and maintenance company similar to Threshold Aviation, a fixed-base operator at Chino Airport, and one of the largest FBO’s in Southern California.

Non-aeronautical development could be mini-markets, grocery stores, laundromats, anything people who live near the airport might patronize and generate sales tax revenue.

No residential or industrial development is being proposed, because both are already well-represented in that part of the city. Both would also add to traffic near the airport, something the county is determined to avoid.

“We’re looking for service amenities,” Godown said when asked what kind of commercial development the county wants to attract “We’re looking to attract a little of everything commercial. The city of supports business, and we’re looking for businesses that will complement the airport.”

Regardless of what form it takes; the project will not be an expansion. Airport officials don’t want to add flights or build more runways, but they are looking to capitalize on a unique opportunity.

” We have 300 acres of open, undeveloped land, which is unusual for an airport of our size,” Godown said. “If you look at Van Nuys, Fullerton, Hawthorne, Long Beach, none of those airports have anything close to 300 acres where they can build anything. It’s a rare thing and we’re trying to take advantage of it.”

Supervisor Curt Hagman, whose district includes the airport, has given the proposed project a strong endorsement.

“By unlocking this prime land for lease, we’re fostering job creation, attracting new businesses, and enhancing infrastructure that will benefit the surrounding community for years to come,” Hagman said in a statement.

Plans call for the project to be built in two phases, each covering 150 acres.

The first phase will take place at the south end of the airport on a parcel bordered by Kimball and Flight avenues. The second parcel, on the airport’s north end, is bordered by Merrill and Kimball avenues.

No construction timeline has been established. That won’t happen until the project is approved, a lengthy process that will include meeting the standards of the California Environmental Quality Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration.

JLL, the Ontario-based commercial real estate and property investment company, is marketing the proposed project.

Developing all or part of the 300 acres is not a new idea.

“Over the years we’ve had a lot of developers ask about it, but for whatever reason it has never happened,” Godown said. “I don’t think they could decide what they wanted to do. But we took a closer look at it and came up with the project we’re proposing.”

Chino Airport has been a fixture in the city since World War II, when the U.S. Government contracted with a flight school there – Cal-Aero Academy – to conduct flight training. It has also served as the backdrop for several television shows and movies, and is home to two air museums, Planes of Fame and Yanks Air Museum.

Over time it has become a major asset for Chino, but the city isn’t directly involved in the county’s redevelopment plans.

“We’re not part of the airport master plan,” said Warren Morelion, Chino’s director of development services. “They’ve been giving us information on the project, but it’s their project and they’re working at their own pace. We hope the county comes up with something that’s beneficial to everyone.”