Boulder Takes FAA To Court To Close Airport

The City of Boulder, Colorado, is taking the FAA to court saying a clause in its grant obligations to the agency is constitutional overreach. The city has already stopped accepting grants with an eye to closing the airport in 2040 when the last obligations reach their 20-year expiry, but the FAA says it may never allow the airport to be closed. That's because three grants, one of them from 65 years ago, were used to buy land for the airport, and that triggers a clause that requires the airport to be operated in perpetuity unless the FAA agrees to release Boulder from those obligations.

“The FAA’s position is not only inconsistent with the express terms of its grant agreements with the City," the complaint reads. "But is also an unconstitutional overreach—in violation of the separation of powers doctrine, the Spending Clause, and the Fifth and Tenth Amendments—that wrests from the City its ability to provide for the public health, safety, and welfare of its citizens, and clouds the City’s fee simple title to the property comprising the Airport.” The full text of the complaint is below.

Boulder wants to close the airport and use the 180 acres for housing and other purposes. The city says it's short of room for new homes and wants to put an end to the noise and lead pollution the airport causes. The issue is prominent in local politics, and the airport has its supporters who argue the closure would be costly and impractical and deny the community the economic and social benefits of having an airport.