SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy recently announced he requested the proposals for a new restaurant at the Sacramento Executive Airport be dropped after community outcry over the future of Aviator's Restaurant & Catering.
"Instead, the County will work with the current operator of Aviator's to negotiate [a lease] extension," he said.
Aviator's Restaurant owner, who goes by Chik, said his lease was up at the end of January and was offered a new month-to-month lease as the county would eventually request bids for new dining options.
County Department of Airports officials said they reached out to more than 200 restaurants and received more than 7,000 survey responses from the community.
"We look forward to continuing this culture of transparency and outreach as our airport system continues to grow in support of our region," said Deputy Director of Airport Commercial Development Stephen Clark. "Additionally, we’re looking forward to beginning negotiations with Chik in the next two weeks as we collaborate toward ensuring Sacramento Executive Airport’s rich aviation heritage is celebrated in the restaurant and beyond."
Chik told ABC10 he's run the restaurant for about 25 years and feels good about the upcoming lease extension negotiations with the Department of Airports.
"It was important to have that lease," he said. "At least we all know and can expect now that work will continue as normal. We don't have to worry about looking for new work."
Thousands of community members came out in support of the restaurant as news of its potential closing spread.
Many started an informal group called the Save Aviator's Committee to advocate for the restaurant's preservation. They also started a Change.org petition that went on to garner more than 4,300 signatures.
The group's spokesperson, Bill Wong, said they worked tirelessly to support the restaurant owners and called for county officials to discontinue pursuing a request for proposal for potential new restaurants in place of Aviator's.
"The outcome validates everyone's strong belief that Sacramento is a great place to live and work with elected leaders dedicated to serving their community," he said.
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