Aero Valley Property Owners Association
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Airport History
Edna Whyte Creates Aero Valley Airport
American aviation pioneer Edna Gardner Whyte founded Aero Valley Airport on 34.0 acres of land during 1969 and 1970. The airport served as her flight school until 1977. After acquiring a 47.5-acre tract that adjoins the airport's northern boundary, she formed Aero Valley Development Company ("AVDCO") with two partners and transitioned the airport into a robust mixed-use common-interest community. The common interest is general aviation. Common properties include the runway-parallel taxiway tracts, runway safety zones, ramp area and its associated buildings, and other access areas.
AVDCO split the new northeastern 47.5-acre tract into quarters. In the western quarter, AVDCO extended the runway to its present length of 3,500 feet and moved the taxiway to the east side of the runway. The eastern quarter is Aero Valley Estates. It consists of 18 lots restricted to residential use with a single detached private hangar. The two middle quarters accommodate a mixture of rows of T-hangars and box hangars of various sizes.
All purchasers of airport property acquired runway access via non-exclusive appurtenant easements subject to AVDCO's deed restrictions. Here’s a typical example:
American aviation pioneer Edna Gardner Whyte founded Aero Valley Airport on 34.0 acres of land during 1969 and 1970. The airport served as her flight school until 1977. After acquiring a 47.5-acre tract that adjoins the airport's northern boundary, she formed Aero Valley Development Company ("AVDCO") with two partners and transitioned the airport into a robust mixed-use common-interest community. The common interest is general aviation. Common properties include the runway-parallel taxiway tracts, runway safety zones, ramp area and its associated buildings, and other access areas.
AVDCO split the new northeastern 47.5-acre tract into quarters. In the western quarter, AVDCO extended the runway to its present length of 3,500 feet and moved the taxiway to the east side of the runway. The eastern quarter is Aero Valley Estates. It consists of 18 lots restricted to residential use with a single detached private hangar. The two middle quarters accommodate a mixture of rows of T-hangars and box hangars of various sizes.
All purchasers of airport property acquired runway access via non-exclusive appurtenant easements subject to AVDCO's deed restrictions. Here’s a typical example:
The four tracts in Exhibit “A” are (1) Kelly Drive, (2) the north runway-parallel taxiway extension (5.7 acres), (3) the original runway-parallel taxiway (10.06 acres), and (4) Douglas Drive.
AVDCO's restrictions require an Architectural Control Committee ("ACC") to govern the airport. It consists of seven members elected by the property owners every two years. In addition to the ACC's enumerated powers, the committee also has the broad power to make whatever rulings, or call for an election, deemed necessary to serve the best interests of the property owners. In 2019, the ACC permanently delegated its authority to the POA’s board of directors.
AVDCO's restrictions deal with three types of structures: residential homes with a single private detached hangar, T-hangars, and box hangars. There are only two differences between the T-hangar and box hangar restrictions. Because T-hangars are built in rows with common walls, storage of flammable liquids is prohibited. Whyte later modified this restriction to require storage of flammable liquids in safe suitable containers. (3083/1) In contrast, box hangars do not share common walls and commercial enterprises may well be in the business of selling flammable liquids. Thus, no such restriction applies to box hangars. T-hangars are also prohibited from displaying signs except small informational signs such as "For Rent" or "For Sale" signs. In contrast, there is no such signage restriction on box hangars. Business owners can advertise their business as desired.
Whyte and AVDCO owned all property then within airport boundaries except 8.63 acres adjacent to the runway's southwest side. In exchange for helping her develop the airport, Whyte granted easements for runway access and use of all airport facilities to the three purchasers of this acreage. Three acres became Southwest Development Phase 1, 1.85 acres became Southwest Development Phase 2, and the southernmost 3.784 acres was unnamed but is referred to as the Ted Fischer Addition.
Edna Whyte Retires
By 1980, Ms. Whyte had built her home and hangar in Aero Valley Estates and retired from daily airport management. She sold the airport's primary common areas to Gene Varner and financed his purchase with the expectation of using the payments to fund her retirement. She continued teaching students to fly until she lost her medical certificate a few years later.
Airport development proceeded harmoniously until 1983. Contrary to Varner's agreement with Whyte, Glen Hyde convinced Gene Varner to let him assume Varner's deed and deed of trust to the airport's common areas in late 1982. This resulted in two agreements between Whyte and Hyde. Hyde violated the payment terms less than a year later. 1012/826 & 1174/619.
Hyde Enters the Picture
Hyde first appeared in 1979. He and his wife, Candace, formed Hyde-Way, Inc. and began borrowing money to acquire airport property. Hyde first acquired 4.537 acres out of an 8.598-acre tract in the eastern middle quarter of the new 47.5-acre tract. The 8.598 acres is restricted for T-hangars. Hyde later acquired several more acres out of the 47.5-acre tract, including 2.02 acres where he currently lives in a double-wide trailer parked inside a hangar. All these tracts include easements for runway access and use of airport facilities. They are also subject to the AVDCO deed restrictions. The restrictions on the 8.598-acre tract were recorded at 10:57 a.m. on Feb. 22, 1980. Hyde's deed was recorded at 3:42 p.m. on the same day. Thus, Hyde had at least constructive notice of the restrictions. Hyde sold many T-hangar tracts with these easements and restrictions intact until 1983.
Below are the tracts and the language related to the easement and restrictions referred to in the deed. (1002/633)
AVDCO's restrictions require an Architectural Control Committee ("ACC") to govern the airport. It consists of seven members elected by the property owners every two years. In addition to the ACC's enumerated powers, the committee also has the broad power to make whatever rulings, or call for an election, deemed necessary to serve the best interests of the property owners. In 2019, the ACC permanently delegated its authority to the POA’s board of directors.
AVDCO's restrictions deal with three types of structures: residential homes with a single private detached hangar, T-hangars, and box hangars. There are only two differences between the T-hangar and box hangar restrictions. Because T-hangars are built in rows with common walls, storage of flammable liquids is prohibited. Whyte later modified this restriction to require storage of flammable liquids in safe suitable containers. (3083/1) In contrast, box hangars do not share common walls and commercial enterprises may well be in the business of selling flammable liquids. Thus, no such restriction applies to box hangars. T-hangars are also prohibited from displaying signs except small informational signs such as "For Rent" or "For Sale" signs. In contrast, there is no such signage restriction on box hangars. Business owners can advertise their business as desired.
Whyte and AVDCO owned all property then within airport boundaries except 8.63 acres adjacent to the runway's southwest side. In exchange for helping her develop the airport, Whyte granted easements for runway access and use of all airport facilities to the three purchasers of this acreage. Three acres became Southwest Development Phase 1, 1.85 acres became Southwest Development Phase 2, and the southernmost 3.784 acres was unnamed but is referred to as the Ted Fischer Addition.
Edna Whyte Retires
By 1980, Ms. Whyte had built her home and hangar in Aero Valley Estates and retired from daily airport management. She sold the airport's primary common areas to Gene Varner and financed his purchase with the expectation of using the payments to fund her retirement. She continued teaching students to fly until she lost her medical certificate a few years later.
Airport development proceeded harmoniously until 1983. Contrary to Varner's agreement with Whyte, Glen Hyde convinced Gene Varner to let him assume Varner's deed and deed of trust to the airport's common areas in late 1982. This resulted in two agreements between Whyte and Hyde. Hyde violated the payment terms less than a year later. 1012/826 & 1174/619.
Hyde Enters the Picture
Hyde first appeared in 1979. He and his wife, Candace, formed Hyde-Way, Inc. and began borrowing money to acquire airport property. Hyde first acquired 4.537 acres out of an 8.598-acre tract in the eastern middle quarter of the new 47.5-acre tract. The 8.598 acres is restricted for T-hangars. Hyde later acquired several more acres out of the 47.5-acre tract, including 2.02 acres where he currently lives in a double-wide trailer parked inside a hangar. All these tracts include easements for runway access and use of airport facilities. They are also subject to the AVDCO deed restrictions. The restrictions on the 8.598-acre tract were recorded at 10:57 a.m. on Feb. 22, 1980. Hyde's deed was recorded at 3:42 p.m. on the same day. Thus, Hyde had at least constructive notice of the restrictions. Hyde sold many T-hangar tracts with these easements and restrictions intact until 1983.
Below are the tracts and the language related to the easement and restrictions referred to in the deed. (1002/633)
On January 5, 1983, Hyde-Way, Inc. borrowed more money to acquire a 119.5-acre tract located west of Cleveland Gibbs Road on the northwest side of the airport. Hyde platted 56 acres out of this tract, subdividing it into four phases of approximately 14 acres each. He called this area the "Northwest Development, an addition to Aero Valley Airport."
Hyde copied the AVDCO restrictions and applied them to this acreage but with critical differences. To provide runway access, Hyde created a "runway and taxiway access" license. In exchange for paying an annual license fee, Hyde promised to keep the airport properly maintained. But he gave himself an out: He did not have to use any funds not collected from license fees to fulfill his maintenance promise. Hyde knew collecting enough license fees was a practical impossibility because every other property owner already had an easement for runway access, which included a corresponding duty to pay maintenance fees to the ACC. Thus, Hyde's promise was empty. Over three decades of history has eliminated any doubt.
Crisis and Conflict Begin
Whyte recognized that Hyde's attempt to grant runway access from the Northwest Development by any means exceeded the scope of the easements she and AVDCO had already granted. Neither Whyte nor her AVDCO partners ever intended to include this acreage within airport boundaries for at least three good reasons. First, development of all lots already within airport boundaries would maximize the runway's utility without overburdening it. Second, maintenance costs were already sufficiently distributed to keep the airport properly maintained while still affordable to most aircraft owners. Including this acreage would exceed the point of diminishing returns. The additional expense of providing utilities, the long taxiways required to get to the runway, and associated maintenance on these phases would create an unaffordable financial burden on property owners. Hyde had already proven that he could not and would not fulfill his role as developer. Finally, forcing aircraft to cross a county road to get to the runway presented an unnecessary safety hazard.
Whyte also recognized that Hyde's claims contradicted the ACC's governing authority and the rights of the easement holders. Contrary to his belief that he "owned" the airport, Hyde's acquisition of airport common areas amounted to nothing more than a change in title to servient estates already burdened by hundreds of easements with the rights and duties associated with them administered by the property owners through their elected representatives. After Whyte transitioned the airport to a common-interest community, the easement holders became the airport's owners and would remain its owners for as long as the land continued to be used as an airport. Recognizing the conflicts that inevitably arises between developer and property owners, common-interest community law requires developers to turn over common areas to the property owners' association. Doing so at Aero Valley would serve everyone's best interests, especially Mr. Hyde's.
Whyte Spends the Last Years of Her Life Trying to Protect the Airport
Unable to deal with Hyde, Whyte sued but a court never heard the case for the following reasons. Whyte had financed Varner's acquisition of airport common areas in 1980. Less than two years later, Hyde assumed both Varner's deed and deed of trust securing the debt. Overloaded with debt, in 1983 Hyde began defaulting on payments. Instead of making payments to Whyte as the deed of trust required, Hyde-Way, Inc. conveyed nine hangars out of Northwest Development Phase 1 to her. Without runway access, these hangars would have been all but worthless. To minimize her loss, Whyte had to agree to allow runway access from these NW1 hangars. Whyte had previously reserved the right to grant or assign easements from any property she owned or would ever own within airport boundaries. Thus, these nine hangars acquired an easement for runway access and use upon Whyte's acceptance of the deed. These nine hangars include: Hangar Tract 1, Lot 1; Hangar Tract 2, Lot 5; Hangar Tract 3, Lots 6, 8, and 14; Hangar Tract 4, Lots 6, 8, and 14; Hangar Tract 8, Lot 1. (1297/151).
Edna had to have bypass heart surgery in 1989 and could no longer hold a medical certificate. She passed away in February 1992 at age 89. Before she died, Whyte wrote an autobiography entitled “Rising Above It.” The last chapter discusses Aero Valley, a taxiway to her front door. Kelly Bryan, Edna's long-time friend and co-executor of her estate, dropped Whyte's lawsuits against Hyde and moved to Albuquerque, NM.
Hyde Defaults and the Banks Respond
Whyte was not the only one who did not get paid due to Hyde-Way, Inc.'s default. Hyde also defaulted on payments to numerous banks. To prevent a bank from foreclosing on airport common areas, Hyde conveyed the runway, ramp area, and several other tracts to a Nevada corporation called IR3T. Hyde was its only shareholder. Allied Bank of Dallas then sued Hyde for fraud and received a $1.68 million judgment. In 1988, Hyde and the bank entered into a settlement agreement wherein Hyde retained title to airport common areas in exchange for returning the tracts conveyed to IR3T back to Hyde-Way, Inc. Their agreement also required Hyde to grant easements for runway access and use from all lots Hyde-Way owned anywhere on the airport or any lots he later acquired. The settlement agreement affected NW1 lots as shown in the table below. As for the other three phases, the settlement affected all lots in Phases 3 and 4 (54 lots in each phase) and 46 of the 54 lots in Phase 2. The eight lots not affected are: 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 8-1, 8-3, and Lots 1, 2, and 3 on the far northwest side of Phase 2 (adjacent to Phase 3).
The final paragraph of the settlement agreement grants runway access easements to "all other access ways or access easement areas now or hereafter owned by Hyde-Way, Inc. and located within said Northwest Development, and such other lots, tracts, parcels, access ways or access easement areas as may now or hereafter be owned by Hyde-Way, Inc. as part of or used in connection with the Aero Valley Airport." (2547/254, 259) In short, any property Hyde-Way owns or acquires at any time in the future anywhere within airport boundaries automatically acquires an easement for runway access and use. This would also apply to Hyde-Way's successors.
In May 1983, Hyde-Way, Inc. executed and recorded a deed of trust to Lewisville National Bank that included runway access easements to the following Northwest Development Phase 1 lots: Hangar tract 1, Lots 1 and 1A; Hangar Tract 2, Lots 3 and 3A; Hangar Tract 3, Lots 7 and 7A; Hangar Tract 4, Lots 9 and 9A; Hangar Tract 5, Lots 11 and 11A; Hangar Tract 6, Lots 13 and 13A; and Hangar Tract 7, Lots 15 and 15A. (706/215)
Hyde copied the AVDCO restrictions and applied them to this acreage but with critical differences. To provide runway access, Hyde created a "runway and taxiway access" license. In exchange for paying an annual license fee, Hyde promised to keep the airport properly maintained. But he gave himself an out: He did not have to use any funds not collected from license fees to fulfill his maintenance promise. Hyde knew collecting enough license fees was a practical impossibility because every other property owner already had an easement for runway access, which included a corresponding duty to pay maintenance fees to the ACC. Thus, Hyde's promise was empty. Over three decades of history has eliminated any doubt.
Crisis and Conflict Begin
Whyte recognized that Hyde's attempt to grant runway access from the Northwest Development by any means exceeded the scope of the easements she and AVDCO had already granted. Neither Whyte nor her AVDCO partners ever intended to include this acreage within airport boundaries for at least three good reasons. First, development of all lots already within airport boundaries would maximize the runway's utility without overburdening it. Second, maintenance costs were already sufficiently distributed to keep the airport properly maintained while still affordable to most aircraft owners. Including this acreage would exceed the point of diminishing returns. The additional expense of providing utilities, the long taxiways required to get to the runway, and associated maintenance on these phases would create an unaffordable financial burden on property owners. Hyde had already proven that he could not and would not fulfill his role as developer. Finally, forcing aircraft to cross a county road to get to the runway presented an unnecessary safety hazard.
Whyte also recognized that Hyde's claims contradicted the ACC's governing authority and the rights of the easement holders. Contrary to his belief that he "owned" the airport, Hyde's acquisition of airport common areas amounted to nothing more than a change in title to servient estates already burdened by hundreds of easements with the rights and duties associated with them administered by the property owners through their elected representatives. After Whyte transitioned the airport to a common-interest community, the easement holders became the airport's owners and would remain its owners for as long as the land continued to be used as an airport. Recognizing the conflicts that inevitably arises between developer and property owners, common-interest community law requires developers to turn over common areas to the property owners' association. Doing so at Aero Valley would serve everyone's best interests, especially Mr. Hyde's.
Whyte Spends the Last Years of Her Life Trying to Protect the Airport
Unable to deal with Hyde, Whyte sued but a court never heard the case for the following reasons. Whyte had financed Varner's acquisition of airport common areas in 1980. Less than two years later, Hyde assumed both Varner's deed and deed of trust securing the debt. Overloaded with debt, in 1983 Hyde began defaulting on payments. Instead of making payments to Whyte as the deed of trust required, Hyde-Way, Inc. conveyed nine hangars out of Northwest Development Phase 1 to her. Without runway access, these hangars would have been all but worthless. To minimize her loss, Whyte had to agree to allow runway access from these NW1 hangars. Whyte had previously reserved the right to grant or assign easements from any property she owned or would ever own within airport boundaries. Thus, these nine hangars acquired an easement for runway access and use upon Whyte's acceptance of the deed. These nine hangars include: Hangar Tract 1, Lot 1; Hangar Tract 2, Lot 5; Hangar Tract 3, Lots 6, 8, and 14; Hangar Tract 4, Lots 6, 8, and 14; Hangar Tract 8, Lot 1. (1297/151).
Edna had to have bypass heart surgery in 1989 and could no longer hold a medical certificate. She passed away in February 1992 at age 89. Before she died, Whyte wrote an autobiography entitled “Rising Above It.” The last chapter discusses Aero Valley, a taxiway to her front door. Kelly Bryan, Edna's long-time friend and co-executor of her estate, dropped Whyte's lawsuits against Hyde and moved to Albuquerque, NM.
Hyde Defaults and the Banks Respond
Whyte was not the only one who did not get paid due to Hyde-Way, Inc.'s default. Hyde also defaulted on payments to numerous banks. To prevent a bank from foreclosing on airport common areas, Hyde conveyed the runway, ramp area, and several other tracts to a Nevada corporation called IR3T. Hyde was its only shareholder. Allied Bank of Dallas then sued Hyde for fraud and received a $1.68 million judgment. In 1988, Hyde and the bank entered into a settlement agreement wherein Hyde retained title to airport common areas in exchange for returning the tracts conveyed to IR3T back to Hyde-Way, Inc. Their agreement also required Hyde to grant easements for runway access and use from all lots Hyde-Way owned anywhere on the airport or any lots he later acquired. The settlement agreement affected NW1 lots as shown in the table below. As for the other three phases, the settlement affected all lots in Phases 3 and 4 (54 lots in each phase) and 46 of the 54 lots in Phase 2. The eight lots not affected are: 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 8-1, 8-3, and Lots 1, 2, and 3 on the far northwest side of Phase 2 (adjacent to Phase 3).
The final paragraph of the settlement agreement grants runway access easements to "all other access ways or access easement areas now or hereafter owned by Hyde-Way, Inc. and located within said Northwest Development, and such other lots, tracts, parcels, access ways or access easement areas as may now or hereafter be owned by Hyde-Way, Inc. as part of or used in connection with the Aero Valley Airport." (2547/254, 259) In short, any property Hyde-Way owns or acquires at any time in the future anywhere within airport boundaries automatically acquires an easement for runway access and use. This would also apply to Hyde-Way's successors.
In May 1983, Hyde-Way, Inc. executed and recorded a deed of trust to Lewisville National Bank that included runway access easements to the following Northwest Development Phase 1 lots: Hangar tract 1, Lots 1 and 1A; Hangar Tract 2, Lots 3 and 3A; Hangar Tract 3, Lots 7 and 7A; Hangar Tract 4, Lots 9 and 9A; Hangar Tract 5, Lots 11 and 11A; Hangar Tract 6, Lots 13 and 13A; and Hangar Tract 7, Lots 15 and 15A. (706/215)