The Community Conversation project helped the City of Boulder understand the community's desired future for the Boulder Municipal Airport site and recommend next steps.

Aerial view of Boulder Municipal Airport, May 2006

Courtesy of Rubino Surveying, Boulder, Colorado

Aerial view of Boulder Municipal Airport, May 2006

Project Overview

Boulder Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport that offers business, private and recreational aviation services to the city and surrounding communities.

Through the project, the city developed a deeper understanding of the community’s desired future for the airport site. The project provided city leadership with four community-supported scenarios for the future of the site to help guide next steps while being mindful of the city’s long-term commitments to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

There are many complex issues and possibilities to explore. While community engagement is complete, city staff will continue to follow up on additional information requested by City Council on behalf of the community.

Goals

  • Understand the community’s short-term goals and long-term aspirations for the airport site
  • Identify key issues and opportunities for consideration
  • Identify a range of possible scenarios and a preferred scenario(s) for the airport site's future
  • Recommend next steps

Community Engagement

There is a wide range of viewpoints regarding the community's desired future vision for the airport site. A meaningful community engagement process ensures all voices are accurately and equitably included. The community’s ideas, aspirations and lived experiences informed a range of four possible scenarios for the airport site’s future.

The community participated through two citywide open houses, two citywide online and in-person questionnaires in English and Spanish, a Community Working Group, bilingual community meetings, and individual interviews, including collaboration with underrepresented communities and Community Connectors. A full community engagement report is available online.

A Community-Informed Vision

Community engagement through 2023 has helped inform the development of four possible scenarios for the future of the airport site. Along with these long-term visions, the community also shared their desire for near-term action items.

Near-term action items will be explored further as ongoing airport work plan items in the coming months.

Scenarios

Scenarios are a high-level view of possibilities for the future of the airport site.

  • Scenarios represent a range of options.
  • Scenarios have a range of costs, feasibility and affordability.
  • Scenarios are a conceptual first draft informed by earlier community feedback.
  • Together with the community, the city will refine these scenarios.

Learn about the four scenarios for the future of the airport site below.

This scenario would bring the current facilities up to a state of good repair. No new facilities would be built.

A conceptual aerial of the airport scenario
Elements that remain Elements that change
  • Existing runways and taxiways
  • Existing hangar facilities
  • Existing support buildings

No physical changes outside of enhanced maintenance of existing facilities

This scenario would foster aviation development that is responsive to market and community demand. Includes modernization of general aviation, hangar improvements, and implementing the most recent Airport Master Plan.

A conceptual aerial of the airport scenario
Elements that remain Elements that change
  • Existing runways and taxiways
  • Existing hangar facilities
  • Existing support buildings
  • Upgrade existing hangars
  • Development of additional hangars
  • Enhance aviation facilities
  • Preserve options to accommodate future modes of travel and goods movement
  • Upgrade public aviation viewing area

This scenario would foster aviation development and community development that complement each other. Includes modernization of general aviation and hangar improvements and live/work hangars. Includes a wide range of neighborhood serving uses such as a restaurant or cafe, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning center and vocational opportunities for local youth, and a community center that houses meeting spaces for both the aviation community and the broader Boulder community.

A conceptual aerial of the airport scenario
Elements that remain Elements that change
  • Existing runways and taxiways
  • Existing hangar facilities
  • Existing support buildings
  • Upgrade existing hangars
  • Develop live/work hangars
  • Build a restaurant or cafe
  • Create a STEM learning center and vocational opportunities for local youth
  • Upgrade aviation facilities
  • Build a community center that houses meeting spaces

This scenario would decommission the airport and create a new, mixed-use neighborhood that may include housing, activity centers, employment hubs, and green space. A portion of land would be set aside for helicopter emergency services that would support resiliency of the region.

A conceptual aerial of the airport scenario
Elements that remain Elements that change
  • Landing area for emergency support services
  • Build a range of housing types
  • Create activity centers
  • Create employment hubs
  • Allocate green space for the needs of native plants and animals

Near-term action items 

Along with long-term scenarios, our community shared their desired near-term action items for the airport and surrounding areas. View the Desired Near-term Action Items.

Timeline

A timeline of feedback

View full image.

Community conversation helped inform four scenarios for the future of the airport site. After viewing these scenarios, City Council requested additional information to better understand legal implications and the financial impact of continuing to operate the airport without grants.

What’s Happening Now?

Staff provided this financial analysis to City Council on July 25, 2024. Staff are also continuing to explore the near-term action items the community identified as part of the Community Conversation.

For more information, view the resources above. If you have questions about the Community Conversation Project, please reach out to Senior Transportation Planner Allison Moore-Farrell at moorefarrella@bouldercolorado.gov. If you have questions about the Boulder Municipal Airport, please reach out to Airport Manager John Kinney at kinneyj@bouldercolorado.gov. For media inquiries about the airport, please reach out to Aisha Ozaslan at ozaslana@bouldercolorado.gov.

FAQs

These are two separate processes.

  • Airport Community Conversation: the city's community engagement process to understand community desires for the future of the airport site. The city recognizes that meaningful engagement is important for serving the community. The city began the Airport Community Conversation to help ensure we have a process to better understand the community's vision for the future of the airport site and to help inform the next steps. This could include possible future processes, such as technical studies or airport master planning.

  • Airport Master Plan: a comprehensive study of an airport. It is guided by the FAA. It usually describes the short-, medium- and long-term development plans to meet future aviation demand. The FAA guides the Airport Master Plan process. This does not include community engagement to a level Boulder feels the community would seek. It also does not cover topics the community desires to be discussed and explored. Learn more on the FAA website.

The Airport Community Conversation began from an identified need to have a broader community conversation about the future of the airport site before the next Airport Master Plan update, which is a separate, FAA-prescribed process. The Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, which guides long-range planning in Boulder, states:

Policy 6.23: Municipal Airport

Boulder Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport that has been in existence since 1928. The airport will continue to ensure it meets the needs of the community by providing a safe environment for aviation business and business-related travel, scientific and research flights, recreation and tourism, flight training and vocational education, aerial fire-fighting, emergency medical flights as well as flood and other disaster-related support for the city and county. The city will seek to mitigate noise, safety and other impacts of airport operation while assuring that new development in proximity will be compatible with existing and planned use of the airport. At the time of the next Airport Master Plan, the city will work with the community to reassess the potential for developing a portion of the airport for housing and neighborhood-serving uses

In addition to this direction to explore alternative uses, the Airport Community Conversation will consider city goals and policies included in the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan and Transportation Master Plan, while also recognizing the city’s commitments to the FAA and the relationship between the airport and the broader Boulder community.

The Airport Community Conversation will help the city understand the community's vision for the future of the airport.

No decision has been reached yet.

With input from the CWG, bilingual community meetings, open houses, individual interviews, and online questionnaires, the project team will develop a range of scenarios and then a final recommendation for the future of the airport site. The recommendations will depend on:

  • City and project requirements
  • State, Division of Aeronautics, and FAA considerations
  • Community and stakeholder perspectives
  • Alignment with community goals, including the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, the Sustainability, Equity and Resilience Framework and the Transportation Master Plan

The project team will present the preferred future scenario(s) to City Council. City Council will review the final recommendation and decide on next steps.

The CWG are key airport stakeholders with a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences that provided input throughout the project. CWG meetings provided a setting for dialogue between directly impacted community members. These meetings helped refine stakeholder input and supported with identifying a range of possible scenarios for the future of the airport.

The CWG contributed to the community conversation process to help develop a deeper understanding of the vision of directly impacted stakeholders, community members and traditionally underserved communities.

The CWG met five times throughout the project to discuss:

  • Where We Are: the current situation of the airport and its community role.
  • Community Vision: the future of the airport site and begin creating a range of possible scenarios for its future.
  • Community Priorities: a group evaluation of the range of scenarios, narrowing the possibilities down to two to three preferred scenarios.
  • Recommendations: input on preferred future scenario(s) for the airport.

In addition to the meetings, CWG members were encouraged to participate in public open house meetings to share project progress with the broader Boulder community. CWG members were selected to represent community members from a range of backgrounds and interests in the future of the airport. Members included:

  • Key stakeholders to represent the broader community, including community members who live near the airport, are part of the business or scientific communities, and more.
  • Aviation community members such as pilots and airport tenants.
  • Underserved community members who may be directly impacted by the airport.

No. However, the Community Conversation considered community and city goals included in various plans — such as the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan, Transportation Master Plan, Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan and Sustainability, Equity and Resilience Framework — while also recognizing the city’s commitments to the Federal Aviation Administration and the relationship between the airport and the broader Boulder community.

The answer to this question is in progress. Due to the City of Boulder’s contractual agreements with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the city is currently obligated to maintain Boulder Municipal Airport as an airport. The City of Boulder may not close the airport without the FAA’s consent and without a formal release of the city from the terms of the applicable federal obligations.

Although no decision has been made on airport closure, we recognize the community has many questions about potentially closing an airport.

While cities generally may not close the airport without the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) consent and a formal release of the city from the terms of the applicable federal obligations, some cities have closed their airport in the past.

As we learn more, we will share what we find with the community.

Until there is a decision on a future scenario for the airport site, the city will continue to comply with our existing FAA obligations to safely operate and maintain the airport.

We would continue to meet our emergency needs.

Communities without an airport rely on surrounding airports, sports fields, open space, parks and other large spaces to run helicopter flights into and out of affected areas to deliver people and pets to safety.

All future scenarios for the Boulder Municipal Airport site also include facilities to accommodate helicopter operations for emergency response and recovery. This would allow for clear zones for arriving and departing aircraft, supporting efficient helicopter operations and staging.

Currently, some specialized firefighting aircraft can’t land at the Boulder Municipal Airport, as our runway is too short for these larger aircraft. During emergencies, these aircraft are based at neighboring airports. For example, aerial tankers, which are large firefighting aircraft, are often based at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport instead.

At Boulder Municipal Airport

Example Firefighting Aircraft at Boulder Municipal Airport

Examples of firefighting aircraft at Boulder Municipal Airport

At Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport

 Example Firefighting Aircraft at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport

Examples of firefighting aircraft at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport

Flight patterns and air traffic can change whether the airport stays open or not. This is due to many variables, such as: pilots may fly into Boulder for different reasons and in different types of aircraft, the number of local and non-local pilots might change, neighboring airports may expand, and more.

If the airport were to close, based aircraft would relocate to other airports. It is possible that flights passing over the city could increase. Aircraft do not typically fly over airports while en route to their destinations, due to air traffic congestion above airports.

The Boulder Municipal Airport does not receive sales or property tax revenue.

The airport is instead funded by the Boulder Airport Enterprise Fund, and state and federal grants. It is funded primarily through airport ground leases including hangar rental fees. The Airport Enterprise Fund collects fees for use of the airport from both operators who are either based at the airport or are visiting. This includes taxes on each gallon of fuel sold.

The State of Colorado and the Federal Aviation Administration also provide capital improvement grants annually to BDU, such as for runway maintenance, averaging about $250,000 per year. By federal law, all revenues generated at an airport must be spent on the airport.

Learn more about funding on the Boulder Airport's Story.

Visit the Boulder Municipal Airport webpage or view the Airport FAQ.

While no decision has been reached at this point for the future of the airport site, we're committed to continuing to share the facts and encourage you to submit your questions or view the Airport FAQ.

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