City Wants “Clarity” Whether Airport Closure Is Possible

The FAA reaffirmed its position that the City of Boulder must keep its airport open in perpetuity as a condition of having accepted funding from the agency decades ago, according to the legal motion recently filed by the agency in response to the city’s lawsuit.

Officials for the City claim they are not necessarily seeking to close the airport with the lawsuit but rather want legal clarity as to whether closure is even possible. They say this is in part to inform and guide long-term planning for Boulder Municipal Airport (KBDU). The City spent $400,000 in consulting over the past several years that eventually came up with two alternatives for the city council to consider: Keep the airport open indefinitely, funded by private investment, or eventually close it – if legally permitted.

A high-profile advocacy group pushing for housing on the airport property garnered enough citizen signatures to put ballot measures on the plan but those were withdrawn when the city filed suit. The outcome of this court case will have a significant impact on the issue.

The basis for the lawsuit is the city argues that FAA money received for land purchases in 1959 and 1977, which come with 20-year obligations, as well as other grants, do not obligate the city to operate the airport in perpetuity.

The FAA disagrees, arguing that the city also accepted a grant in 1991 for $650,000 to acquire an easement for a taxiway realignment. The FAA says this grant obligates the city to keep the airport open unless the agency approves its closure. The most recent grant accepted by the city was in May 2020 that came with a 20-year obligation.

The airport provides flight training, glider flights, and supports private and research operations. As opposition to the airport has grown to repurpose the land for housing, so too has a counter-effort to keep the airport open by hundreds of pilots in the Denver metro area and up and down the Front Range region of Colorado. They say the closure would create a domino effect and embolden other municipalities to try the same with their airports, not just in Colorado but nationwide.

FMI:  bouldercolorado.gov/