Stephen Fulton

Escalating his political campaign against a private hangar at the Astoria Regional Airport known as the Man Cave, Port of Astoria Commissioner Stephen Fulton wants the Port Commission to evict the owner and make room for Life Flight Network’s new hangar.

Fulton, who has asked for an emergency meeting of the commission, said the move could spare the Port from needing a $1.96 million bond measure in May to help finance a Life Flight hangar and future development.

In a letter he sent to fellow commissioners Thursday, Fulton said the permitted use section of the lease held by Philip Bales, a retired dentist, “is expressly and plainly clear that ‘aviation-related facility and storage of aircraft’ are the only permitted uses, ‘and for no other purpose.’”

Bales has a 5,000-square-foot hangar on land rented from the Port since 2000. He stores several planes and a boat in the hangar, as well as operating the Man Cave, a clubhouse complete with a bar and a small theater. Bales said he has broken no laws and is providing a gathering place to help promote the airport.

Fulton has requested an emergency meeting to authorize a cease-and-desist letter against the Man Cave, saying he contacted the Port’s insurer and confirmed the agency has no alcohol-related liability coverage.

Fulton’s campaign against the Man Cave started with his announcement of a bid for re-election to the Port Commission in the May 16 special district election. Facing a challenge from former Clatsop County Commissioner Dirk Rohne, Fulton switched seats and filed against fellow Commissioner James Campbell. In the announcement, Fulton said Campbell had condoned the private club, which he later referred to as an “unlicensed speakeasy.”

The allegations have surprised and confused other Port commissioners, most of whom have visited the widely known Man Cave. Port Executive Director Jim Knight has said the Man Cave is not prohibited by Bales’ lease nor frowned upon by the Federal Aviation Administration. Warrenton Police Chief Mathew Workman said no complaints have been filed about the Man Cave.

In his letter, Fulton said Bales’ eviction is an opportunity to avoid the Port’s May bond measure. The Port is asking voters to approve $1.96 million in bonds to create a second airport entrance to the south, accommodate helicopter medevac service Life Flight’s new hangar away from other airplane traffic and near the new entrance, and to ready nearby parcels for future development.

“In the interest of saving almost $2 million of taxpayer money, I ask this commission and Port staff to add to the next meeting’s agenda the discussion of how and when Bales’ site and lease could be terminated and made available for a higher use by Life Flight pursuant to Section 5D of the lease,” Fulton said.

The higher-use section of Bales’ lease states the Port can give him 120 days written notice to vacate. The Port would have to pay Bales a $2,500 early termination fee.

The Port’s bond measure has been backed by most cities and hospitals in the region because of Life Flight’s importance in flying patients to larger hospitals in Portland. But Fulton has been unsupportive of the larger bond measure, calling for a cheaper alternative accommodating just Life Flight.

He first tried to preemptively create a Plan B fund just for Life Flight’s pad in case the bond measure failed. He later convinced the Port Commission to temporarily raise the price of the bond to $2.6 million for potential wetland mitigation costs, despite the Port owning its own mitigation credits. The bond price was later lowered back to $1.96 million after the Port learned it could not charge taxpayers for mitigation credits the agency already possesses.

The Airport Advisory Committee, which includes Bales, advised against placing Life Flight’s new hangar next to the Bales’ hangar, which is next to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Air Station Astoria, because of noise concerns. The committee recommended the southern site included in the Port’s bond measure because of its isolation from other air traffic.

“I am concerned that Airport Advisory Committee members frequent Bales’ Man Cave, and therefore had an incentive to not disclose the Port’s contractual right to buy out and end the Man Cave under the Bales lease to situate Life Flight there, since they would lose their private social club by doing so,” Fulton said.

Bales has said Fulton’s campaign is one of envy that a group of people has a place to gather. He said the club is not private, and that Fulton himself has visited. While the club has a decidedly conservative political atmosphere, Bales said he invites everybody. Bales’ seventh-annual International Man Cave Day is Saturday.