Declines To Hear The Case Brought Against Mile-Hi Skydiving

The long legal battle fought by "Citizens for Quiet Skies" against Mile-Hi Skydiving in Longmont, Colorado has finally run its course. The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to review the case, which has was first filed in 2013.

The "Citizens for Quiet Skies" is a small group of local residents who complained about the noise from the airplane used by Mile-Hi Skydiving. They said that the planes did not follow federal and local noise abatement procedures in the conduct of its normal business, and sued the company and its owner, Frank Casares, in October, 2013,

The Longmont Times-Call newspaper reports that the first legal defeat for "Citizens for Quiet Skies" came in May 2015, when Boulder District Court Judge Judith LaBuda ruled that Mile-Hi Skydiving had followed the rules and was in compliance with all local and federal regulations. She awarded $120,000 in damages and legal fees to Casares.

But the group continued to fight the case. At the Colorado Court of Appeals, they said that Judge LaBuda's ruling was "very vindictive and unreasonable." That court also sided with Casares, so Kimberly Gibbs, who was spearheading the effort with her husband and a handful of others, appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court. That court declined to hear the case without comment.

Gibbs, who claims her supporters number "in the hundreds", said that the appeal to the state supreme court was in line with her commitment to see the case through to a conclusion. She said that the group will not disband, but will continue to lobby elected officials at the local and federal level in an effort to change national aviation laws and give local communities more control over GA airports.

FMI: Original Report