Jeffco-Area Homeowners Sue County Over Increased Air Traffic Issues

More than 400 homeowners in Superior, Colorado’s Rock Creek housing development have sued Jefferson County over what they claim are violations of airspace, lead emissions and devaluation of their properties associated with operations at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (KBJC, aka Jeffco Airport). The development is less than a mile northeast of the airport.

Still widely referred to as Jeffco, the airport was developed after Jefferson County purchased 1,700 acres of land in 1959. It opened in 1960. As the area has seen an influx of development in recent years, traffic at the airport has increased significantly, with more than 300,000 operations recorded in 2022. The airport posts its “Friendly Flying” guidelines in a section of its website on its Fly Quiet Program. The website also features a section on “Living Near the Airport” with advice for home shoppers on ensuring they understand the implications of moving to the area.

Rock Creek was first subdivided in 1987, according to the Superior website, and as of 2006, some 2,700 single-family homes and 1,800 multi-family homes were built. Development continues to this day. According to the lawsuit, “Properties offered for sale have been sitting on the market for longer than other similar properties; some potential buyers have not moved forward after visiting properties; and some properties have been sold below market value.”

The controversy raises the issue of “avigation easements” which, according to the FAA sample application for same, enable property owners to grant—for a fee—“appurtenance rights” and benefits to an airport “for the use and benefit of the public.” Those rights enable “the unobstructed use and passage of all types of aircraft in and through the airspace at any height or altitude above the surface of the land.” In 2020 there were 29 such easements associated with KBJC. Citing noise levels in excess of what was written into the easement agreements, the Rock Creek Homeowners’ Association sued Jefferson County to eliminate all such easements. District Court Judge Stephen Howard ruled to close nine of the easements in 2021.

Adrian Nye, president of the Colorado Pilots Association, told AVweb it's unclear what the real-world implications of the ruling would be, saying there is confusion over the amount of control such restrictions could wield when it comes to air traffic. Nye cited a letter posted on his association’s website sent to the Colorado State Attorney General by legal representatives of five general aviation advocacy groups outlining the limits of local control of air traffic.

The letter reads, in part: “The chief restrictions on state and local police powers arise from the exclusive federal control over the management of airspace. Local authorities long have been preempted by the federal assumption of authority in the area from prohibiting or regulating overflight for any purposes,” and, “There remains a critical role for local authorities in protecting their citizens from unwanted aircraft noise, principally through their powers of land use control. (FAA Aviation Noise Abatement Policy, Nov. 18, 1976, II(B).)”