CHICO — Former Chico Regional Airport tenant Mark Spelts is threatening to sue the city of Chico if he isn’t granted a lease for the hangar he says was promised to him.

Spelts argues that Airport Manager Tom Bahr told him both verbally and in an email that the hangar at 100 Lockheed was his, only for the city to later lease it to a private company called Aero-Flite. City officials maintain he has no legal claim, saying his only valid lease expired.

Spelts originally rented the hangar at 100 Lockheed in 2021 on a 5-year lease for his airplane, according to a legal analysis from Deputy City Attorney Scott Nichols. Before his lease term ended, Spelts suggested the city rent the space to Dawson Taylor Aviation Services instead. In October 2024, the city signed a lease with the aviation servi

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