Feuding neighbors usually bicker over blaring music, unkempt lawns, overflowing trash cans or barking dogs.
The dispute playing out between the owners of Boerne Stage Airfield and Threshold Ranch homeowner Joshua Brandt may be a first, however.
The airfield’s owners have taken Brandt to court in Bexar County for allegedly jogging on the edge of the “runway safe zone in violation of airport safety procedures and creating a dangerous condition for all approaching and departing air traffic.”
He has been trespassing and causing a nuisance, the owners say.
Threshold Ranch, which borders the airfield, is a private, gated residential community “ designed by those who love to fly,” its website says. Just south of the Bexar-Kendall county line along Boerne Stage Road, the community features homes that range in value from the high six-figures to more than $1 million.
Brandt, who has lived in the community for about a decade, says the airfield’s owners have engaged in “unwarranted” and “aggressive actions” in an attempt to restrain him from using the airport property and his easement.
“The owners of Boerne Stage Airfield selectively make and enforce unwritten rules which apply solely to Brandt while they continue to engage in inequitable conduct,” he responded in a recent court filing.
This week, state District Judge Rosie Alvarado issued a temporary injunction preventing Brandt from running within 125 feet of either side of the center of the runway.
“The court’s ruling is merely a safety issue at this point with respect to the airstrip,” the judge said.
Brandt can continue to use the airport to fly his six-seat Piper Saratoga. Alvarado, however, declined to issue an order stopping him from using a taxiway behind his hangar and that runs parallel with the runway, saying the airfield’s owners had not met their burden in showing that an injunction was warranted.
It’s not the end of the court battle; the two sides are set to go to trial in October.
‘Fell in love’
It’s an inauspicious beginning for Boerne Stage Airfield LLC’s owners, who took over ownership of the public-use airport about two months ago from Threshold Ranch developer Robert Bruce. The LLC’s two members are Mohamed Ryad Bakalem and Michael Brown, Brandt’s neighbors.
Property records show that as part of the sale, the LLC obtained an almost $7.5 million loan from Vantage Bank Texas and $4.3 million in financing from Bruce.
Brandt, 39, a consultant and software developer for the 911 emergency industry, resides in Threshold Ranch with his wife Katherine, a neonatologist, and their three young boys.
“We fell in love with the idea of living in an air park,” he testified, adding that he flies for work and family trips.
This isn’t the first time Brandt has landed in court over a neighborhood spat.
In 2019, Threshold Ranch LP, a partnership led by Bruce, sued him for interfering with its business of selling properties. It alleged Brandt made disparaging remarks while prospective buyers were viewing property and that he placed traffic cones on the street to block the entrance to the cul-de-sac he lives on.
The partnership obtained a temporary restraining order against Brandt, who denied the allegations, court records show. Threshold Ranch dropped the lawsuit within about four months of its filing.
‘No rules’
Now, Brandt is again on the defense, this time over the route he takes to run.
Jennifer Rosenblatt, an attorney representing the airfield, asked him if he has “unfettered access to run on the runway.”
“I never run on this runway,” he said. “I understand Mr. Brown suggests that I do not. After listening to the testimony and seeing the documents, I do not know. I would presume it would not be a good idea to run in that space.”
Henry B. Gonzalez III, a lawyer for Brandt, told Alvarado that he’s asked the airfield’s counsel to provide a copy of its rules but never received them.
“My client is thoroughly confused,” Gonzalez said. “He’s lived there for years and all of a sudden he’s hearing you can’t come on airport property. There are no rules.”
Gonzalez asked Brown on the witness stand what the rules are for people such as Brandt and Bakalem, who live along the airfield, about accessing it.
“Don’t run on the runway. Don’t run on the main taxiway,” Brown answered. “ Don’t obstruct it or block it with vehicle. And safety in mind. Don’t do anything that’s going to put you or your and any … of our pilots in harm as they are taking off and landing.”
Gonzalez then asked if the rules were posted on airfield’s website or spelled out in any documents.
“No, sir. Those are common sense,” Brown answered. “He should know that if he’s coming into land and there’s a jogger on the runway, it’s going to potentially kill him and his family.”
He added, “This is all about a rebellious spirit and the defendant telling me, ‘I’m going to do what I want. I was the first (to move into the neighborhood) and I’m going to do what I want. You’re not going to stop me.’ That’s why we’re here today.”
Brandt alleges in a court filing that there is a “repeated pattern” of conduct by Bruce, Brown and Bakalem “which could be considered much more dangerous and egregious than Brandt’s — if his conduct could be considered dangerous or harassing whatsoever.”
Brandt accuses them of driving and parking vehicles in prohibited areas, including the runway, and ignoring “similar, or worse conduct” by others.
Gonzalez submitted several photos as court exhibits to support Brandt’s claim during the temporary injunction hearing.
A photograph taken in 2019, Brandt testified, depicts an individual firing an assault rifle on airport grounds near two people walking across the runway’s center line.
Two bicyclists are seen riding on the runway in a photograph purportedly taken in September. A jogger was photographed on the runway in August. Another, from June, features two joggers within several feet of the runway running within what’s referred to as the “clear zone.”
A photo purportedly taken last month shows a golf cart in the clear zone as an airplane appears to be taking off.
“Boerne Stage Airfield cannot claim that they will suffer from a probable or imminent injury from Brandt when they choose to allow the same conduct on a daily basis,” he argued in a court filing.
Boiling over
Tensions came to a head just about a month after the airfield’s new owners took over.
On Dec. 10, the LLC alleges, Brandt parked two vans that blocked an easement on the airfield’s property, obstructing construction vehicles from accessing the airfield.
The construction vehicles had been regularly going around the vans, Brandt counters.
Brandt refused to comply with demands to remove the vans, the lawsuit alleges, so Brown called the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. A sheriff’s deputy asked Brandt if he could move the vehicles inside the hangar. Brandt replied that he couldn't because he was cleaning it out, according to the deputy’s incident report.
The deputy advised Brown he could have the vehicles towed. Once a tow truck arrived, the report says, Brandt immediately moved one vehicle into the hangar while the other vehicle was hooked up to the tow truck.
Brown and an unidentified individual said Brandt displayed a weapon, the report said. On the witneess stand, Brandt denied ever pointing a gun at Brown or threatening him. The deputy said in his report he placed Brandt in hand restraints after he would not get out of his vehicle while taking possession of a “holstered weapon.”
After the vehicle was towed, the deputy said he took the hand restraints off of Brandt and gave him back his weapon.
Gonzalez said he filed an action against the tow truck company, as well as the airfield’s owners, over the incident. Julie Bray Patterson, the justice of the peace for Precinct 3, Place 1, on Friday awarded Brandt expenses and attorney fee’s though Gonzalez expects the ruling will be appealed, Gonzalez said.
Less than a week after the incident, Boerne Stage Airfield LLC sued Brandt. The same day, it obtained a restraining order prohibiting him from “entering on or obstructing access” to the airfield or taking part in “activities at or near that airfield that interfere” with its operations. The TRO was later extended twice.
After Alvardo issued the temporary injunction, Gonzalez told her, “We come in peace.
“We would really like to have an opportunity to have these parties sit down and figure out something for the betterment of this neighborhood.”
The parties are required to mediate within 60 days.
pdanner@express-news.net
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Boerne Stage Airfield owners take neighbor to court for jogging near 'runway safe zone' - San Antonio Express-News
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