OCONEE COUNTY — Space is becoming a rare commodity at Oconee County Regional Airport, and with that in mind, hangar development was the major topic at a meeting this week of the Oconee Aeronautics Commission.

“We have a T-hangar waiting list at the airport that has over 50 names of aircraft owners and prospective aircraft owners that desire space at the airport,” said Kevin Short, director of the regional airport.

After hearing on Tuesday from Oconee County Administrator Dale Surrett and the Airport Hangar Development Committee, the County Aeronautics Commission decided on the best site for hangar development. Commissioners chose a site west of the airport’s existing corporate hangar in the airport property on Airport Road in Seneca.

Oconee County recently was approached by a company that wants to build a corporate hangar in the Upstate, and the first step was for the Aeronautics Commission to determine where the best site for a corporate hangar was at the airport. But Short said no discussions at the meeting focused on that request or a new corporate hangar.

“Based on the request from the county administrator, discussion was limited to just recommending a site for hangar development,” Short said.

Short declined to comment about which company made the inquiry about constructing a corporate hangar at the airfield. It was a construction company that has a number of aircraft it is willing to base at the airport, he said.

The regional airport now offers one corporate hangar. It was built back in 2001-02 by BDS Group, three gentlemen who formed a corporation and are leasing space from the county at the airfield. The corporate hangar consists of three bays and comprises roughly 19,000 square feet.

“Typically a T-hangar is able to house one single-engine aircraft,” Short said. “To house more than one aircraft, obviously the hangar has got to be of some significant size. Typically our current T-hangars have anywhere from 1,300 to 1,400 square feet.”