Jun. 25--OCEANSIDE -- The Federal Aviation Administration has signed off on a long-term lease of the Oceanside Municipal Airport to a private management company, a development that should clear the way for the city to hand over daily operations of the airport.

The City Council approved a 50-year deal with Airport Property Ventures of Los Angeles in November. But the transition was placed in a holding pattern when the FAA expressed concerns that the agreement could constitute privatization of the single-runway airfield.

Privatization would require a far more rigorous review than a simple lease.

The parties tweaked the language to get the agency's consent, which was granted in a letter June 11. City Attorney John Mullen said in an e-mail Tuesday that the City Council would vote on some "nonsubstantive amendments" to the agreement July 8.

Lydia Kennard, a principal with the management company, said, "The financial deal and the length of the lease did not change at all."

Her company should be able to move in "very shortly," she added.

Airport Property Ventures has agreed to expand and renovate the facility just north of Highway 76 in the San Luis Rey River Valley. The airfield is home to about 60 small planes.

Oceanside will get a minimum annual rent payment and 40 percent of the net income.

Kennard said renovations will start on the south side. The company intends to build new hangars and replace some of the dilapidated ones. "We have to do an assessment as to what can be renovated and what has to be torn down," she said.