BOULDER – The Airport Neighborhood Campaign, which ran a successful petition drive for two ballot proposals related to the closure of Boulder Municipal Airport for housing development on the site, has withdrawn those proposals, making them unlikely to appear on the November ballot.

The decision, ANC stated on its websitewas powered by a City lawsuit Late last month, the court filed suit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), asking a judge to rule on the legality of the plan to close the airport.

“Since the lawsuit was filed, Boulderers from across the political spectrum have expressed a desire to wait for the resolution of the Boulder v. FAA litigation before commenting on the future of the airport site,” the statement on the website said. “According to the (Boulder) city attorney, federal courts schedule new cases approximately two years in advance. This means the Boulder v. FAA case will not be concluded before the election.

“Because the closure and repurposing of the airport is a long-term project – potentially until May 2040 – Boulder has time to make this decision as a community. The ‘housing for people, not parking for planes’ campaign is a marathon, not a sprint. The ANC network is prepared to resubmit the ballot measures after the litigation is concluded.”

Boulder’s lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Colorado asks that a judge relieve the city of its FAA-mandated obligation to operate the airport in perpetuity. That obligation, the FAA argues, stems from accepting grants decades ago to purchase portions of the airport property.

The Boulder Municipal Airport site has been identified by housing activists as a prime location for building custom homes at below-market rates.

“In response to the dwindling supply of affordable housing, growing concerns about noise and other environmental impacts associated with aircraft operations at Boulder Municipal Airport, and potential liabilities arising from the ownership and operation of the airport, the City is considering closing and redeveloping the airport,” Boulder’s lawsuit states.

In late June, two separate but complementary petitions to decommission BDU for housing – “Repurpose Our Runways” and “Runways to Neighborhoods” – received enough signatures to potentially appear on the November ballot.

To create the desired affordable housing, the city would sell land within the current airport area cheaply to developers, with the promise that a certain percentage of the homes built there would be sold at below-market prices.

“In August 2023, city officials met with the FAA to discuss, among other things, the city’s desire to close and repurpose the airport,” Boulder’s lawsuit states. “The FAA indicated that it was unwilling to release the city from its grant guarantee obligations and claimed that those grant guarantee obligations would be in perpetuity.”

The FAA, which awarded the city grants in 1959, 1963 and 1977 to purchase a total of approximately 44 acres of land on the airport site, takes the position that acceptance of these grants obligates the city to continue operating the airport indefinitely.

The FAA’s “policy is to strengthen the national airport system, not to support the closure of public airports,” said a letter to the city administration from John Bauer, the FAA’s Denver Airports District Manager. “The FAA has rarely granted a request to close a federally mandated airport. Such approvals have been granted only in highly unusual cases where the closure of the airport would provide a benefit to civil aviation, such as funding a replacement airport in the community.”

The city recognizes that certain FAA grants come with a 20-year commitment to continue airport operations. In preparation for a decision to close Boulder Municipal Airport, the city stopped accepting federal grants in 2021. That means, Boulder’s lawsuit alleges, the city will be allowed to close the airport in 2041.

“But the FAA claims that the City is obligated to operate the airport in perpetuity unless the FAA – and only the FAA – orders otherwise,” the complaint states, adding that three previous grants – all made between 30 and 65 years ago – were for land acquisitions.

The federal government’s position on the city’s right to shut down the airport is “not only inconsistent with the express terms of its grant agreements with the city, but also constitutes an unconstitutional interference – a violation of the separation of powers, the spending clause, and the Fifth and Tenth Amendments. It deprives the city of the ability to provide for the public health, safety, and welfare of its citizens and tarnishes the city’s title to the land on which the airport is located,” the lawsuit states.

The ANC said it would continue to support the city’s case as the legal proceedings progressed.

The group said it would also “oppose further development of the airport site that would make airport reuse more expensive and wasteful and increase air traffic and impacts. This includes opposition to airport leases that extend beyond May 2040 and to ‘lease relief’ that would provide windfall revenue to private aviation at the expense of city taxpayers.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as additional information becomes available.