Tell Boulder leadership: We need local control of BDU
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Boulder skies are not under the control of Boulder leadership.
They should be. This petition will be sent to:
Boulder Mayor Brockett and Members of Boulder City Council Nuria Rivera-Vendermyde, City Manager Natalie Stiffler, Interim Director of Transportation & Mobility John Kinney, Boulder Airport Senior Manager Allison Moore-Farrell, Senior Transportation Planner |
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Petition text, our message:
"The sky over Boulder belongs to everyone, not just users and operators of Boulder Municipal Airport (BDU) and the FAA. For the sakes of equity, our health, and the the quality of our environment, Boulder residents must have a say in what happens at BDU.
With the development of the Master Plan starting this year, which lays out a development plan for BDU for the next 20 years, we call upon you to expire or terminate FAA contracts current in place. And, the City must require citizen approval before doing any of:
We also call upon you to create and enforce as much as possible reasonable regualtions and fees for BDU usage, such as: landing fees, limiting touch and go operations, requiring quiet operations, requiring considerate behavior, etc.
Finally, we call upon you to step selling leaded fuel at BDU."
With the development of the Master Plan starting this year, which lays out a development plan for BDU for the next 20 years, we call upon you to expire or terminate FAA contracts current in place. And, the City must require citizen approval before doing any of:
- taking FAA grant money with its concurrent obligations,
- growing or expanding the airport,
- spending municipal funds on the airport.
We also call upon you to create and enforce as much as possible reasonable regualtions and fees for BDU usage, such as: landing fees, limiting touch and go operations, requiring quiet operations, requiring considerate behavior, etc.
Finally, we call upon you to step selling leaded fuel at BDU."
Background
The City of Boulder made a bargain with the FAA. In exchange for FAA grant money the City may not impose any restrictions on BDU until these grants expire. So, no restrictions on: growth, traffic type, volume, control or purpose, fuel sales and usage, etc. And no enforcement for poor behavior. Even though the City sponsors the airport, matches grants, and provides almost 140 acres of free land, it has no input on how that land is used or what pilots do.
A very small number of vested interests have outsized influence on the airport and thus impact on residents on the ground. Operations have increased 20 - 25% since 2018. This means more pilots flying below altitudes, violating noise abatements policies, and even harassing neighborhoods and residents, more fuel sold and burned in Boulder skies, adding nothing but cost to residents and the city. The vast majority of planes use unmuffled equipment and burn leaded fuel. 95% of the lead in aviation fuel is emitted as exhaust. This is all based on burning carbon, in an age of ‘F’ grade air quality by the American Lung Association, and 'severe' rating by the EPA, and extreme weather due to climate change.
Besides being a growth-oriented, highly polluting industry, the general aviation industry will not accept even reasonable restrictions out of respect for residents or the environment. Asking pilots to do the right thing does not work.
A very small number of vested interests have outsized influence on the airport and thus impact on residents on the ground. Operations have increased 20 - 25% since 2018. This means more pilots flying below altitudes, violating noise abatements policies, and even harassing neighborhoods and residents, more fuel sold and burned in Boulder skies, adding nothing but cost to residents and the city. The vast majority of planes use unmuffled equipment and burn leaded fuel. 95% of the lead in aviation fuel is emitted as exhaust. This is all based on burning carbon, in an age of ‘F’ grade air quality by the American Lung Association, and 'severe' rating by the EPA, and extreme weather due to climate change.
Besides being a growth-oriented, highly polluting industry, the general aviation industry will not accept even reasonable restrictions out of respect for residents or the environment. Asking pilots to do the right thing does not work.
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It is time to change the attitude that the sky belongs to pilots and the FAA alone, while residents, wildlife, and ecosystems be damned. Why should this small number of special interests dictate the daily experience of perhaps 100,000+ people?
Requiring citizen approval for FAA grant money is the only way for Boulder residents to truly have a voice at the table and for Boulder leadership to impose reasonable airport operating restrictions, manage growth, and protect Boulder City and County residents from lead, noise, and other pollution. |