Built here once, and what it would cost to build again
The City of Palmdale is home to U.S. Air Force Plant 42, which the City’s own Military Compatibility element calls one of the premier aeronautical development, test, and production installations in the nation. One of, not the — the chapter's hedge stays. Plant 42 is used primarily as a production flight test installation by the United States Air Force, and Edwards Air Force Base, located approximately 30 miles north of Plant 42, provides command and control of the airfield complex.
Acreage, elevation, and a number that travels with its range
Plant 42 covers approximately 6,130 acres. The facility is situated at an elevation of 2,543 feet above mean sea level — that is the elevation of the installation, not a figure for the city. The site contains approximately 3.2 million square feet of industrial facilities.
Employment is the figure most often quoted loose, so quote it tight. The chapter's body gives approximately 12,000 employees; its own footnote supplies the range that figure sits at the top of: the total number of employees at Plant 42 fluctuates between 7,500 to over 12,000 depending on contracting and project needs for both Military personnel and other operators. Plant 42 is the second largest employer in the Antelope Valley, after Edwards Air Force Base.
Ten sites, three operators and a test wing
The installation is not one thing. Plant 42 is categorized by Sites 1-10 with Site 7 further divided into west and east halves. Sites 1, 2, 3, 4, 7W, 7E and 8 are leased among three contractor operators, according to the chapter, while Sites 5 and 6 are operated and maintained through the 412th Test Wing and its Operating Location at Air Force Plant 42.
Because military and associated operations are a cornerstone of the City of Palmdale’s identity and economy, the City opted for a standalone General Plan Element to plan for continued safe operations of Plant 42. That element also describes the Air Installation Compatible Use Zone Final Report of December 2011 as documenting aircraft operations at Plant 42.
Twenty-one aircraft, and what they were before they were exhibits
The public-facing end of all that production is a park. Visitors to Joe Davies Heritage Airpark, the City writes, see a collection of aircraft flown, tested, designed, produced or modified at United States Air Force Plant 42. The airpark includes 21 retired military aircraft on static display; when fully developed, the City says, it will showcase over 40 retired military and civilian aircraft, which is a plan for later rather than a count for today. Admission to the park and use of its amenities is free.
What it would cost to build it again
An airpark full of things built here separates what a thing cost from what it would cost to make another one — the hardest distinction on a residential policy. The Department of Insurance draws the same line: the dwelling limit should be the amount it would cost to replace your home — a figure that may have nothing to do with the purchase price or the current market value, since what homeowners insurance covers does not generally include the value of the land upon which your dwelling sits.
Whether that cover is easy to buy depends on where the mapped lines fall. Very high fire hazard severity zones, under local fire agency responsibility, are mapped south and west of the California Aqueduct, taking in Joshua Ranch, Ritter Ranch and the Anaverde Nuevo neighborhood together with the adjacent open space. The limit on that finding is the chapter’s own next sentence, and it travels with the finding everywhere on this site: the remainder of Palmdale is not under significant wildfire hazard risk. Where the ordinary market does say no, the residual option is narrow. The FAIR Plan offers a standard fire insurance policy for both the structure and contents, a basic property policy with coverage limitations under which no coverage is provided for liability or coverage for other perils such as burglary.