Originally posted by Stephen Rushmore Jr.

Which airport are you operating out of?
[/quote
Sorry for the delay in replying…the airport is Skyhaven in Rochester.Small general aviation type-and it helped.The FBOs (the guys who run the place) actually want and need an operation like mine.The airport itself could never support any kind of food operation but for them my place could both serve them and make them more viable as an airport-pilots in the area with needing fuel often look for a strip with a food place when refueling and other pilots killing time for proficiency flights like to try the food at as many different airports as possible.They call them "Hundred Dollar Hamburgers"…$80 to rent the plane and $20 for a fast meal…So later this spring my place will be featured on their website.The important part is by being outside the security area they get what they want and the beautiful 18K traffic count is all mine.

Next month I will be opening my first food trailer at an airport in New Hampshire.While I have faced my ROS (ration of shit) from the local authorities,I found out a facinating fact-in most cities and towns throughout our nation there are possible food service sites that by their very nature makes the locals damn near irrelevent…I am opening in a city of 25K that is not cart or trailer friendly…Really they tried to run bullshit on me about p&z hearings,zoning,signage, and public restroom access…all this to serve burgers from an 18" trailer.Never mind that in the same town they have somehow managed to licence drive-through coffee kiosks,a double felon,a ’58 metrovan on a front lawn and the felon’s sister on a private lot adjacent to the police station-I alone would be required to provide rest rooms….But then the balance changed,at my site and probably other sites in most towns-the locals as it turns out,control nothing.By locating at an airport everthing I do is controlled by either the State DOT or the guys who lease and operate the airport from the state.And this is important-the town must license my rig but they actually control zip-I have to meet state regs but anything I did (or do) for site improvements or signage is negotiated with the state and the lessors and they WANT me to succeed and make money-this small change of controlling authority makes a huge difference.Now instead of justifying every inch and twitch in advance I deal with a couple of guys who want me to succeed and the state dot that loves anything that helps the airport…I got a three year lease with great terms-my lease runs with the FBO lessors and may be extended. I’m on a high traffic count state highway in an area closed to food service locations by the city I’m in because they want traffic to head downtown-they’ve left me over a 1 mile buffer to the nearest coffee with an 18K traffic count and an industrial park behind the airport…So anyhow there are seams in the zone defence-it wasn’t till later I looked at the town tax map and realized that the airport was a different color-and that color meant here we do not rule…it worked for me but other areas may work for you-realize this,in New Hampshire at least,lands under control of the state or federal government may not have all the restrictions that apply just across the street-got a state or federal site nearby? That may be a seam in the defence worth exploiting….