Airport neighbors rally forces for next meeting

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Southeast Fort Collins neighbors pledged to pack the next public meeting on May 4 to air concerns about noise and safety, which they demand be addressed in the updated master plan for the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport.

That meeting is set for 4 to 6 p.m. at the Fort Collins City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave. The third in a series of public meetings leading up to the scheduled July completion of the revised master plan, airport manager Dave Gordon said this meeting will focus on land-use plan alternatives for airport development, flight path alignment and options for a secondary runway.

Some of the more than 40 attending the April 11 Concerned Citizens of Southeast Fort Collins Neighborhoods meeting advocated hiring an attorney to oppose any effort to expand the airport. Composed of representatives from some 30 homeowners associations, the group was formed in an impromptu meeting two weeks earlier out of concern that neighbors were not being adequately involved in the master plan update process.

The consensus, however, was for the group to first assert itself politically to ensure its concerns are addressed.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease," said Tammy Tauer-Niemann, one of the organizers of the group and a member of the airport master plan study committee.

The neighbors will insist that the Larimer County Commissioners get involved in the issue, despite what they said was Commissioner Glenn Gibson's assertion that the matter was not within the county's purview.

They also will take their case to elected officials in Fort Collins and Loveland, which jointly own the airport located between the cities. In raising their concerns they also plan to question whether the airport should be relocated rather than making continued investment in a facility increasingly being surrounded by development.

But Vernon Osborne, president of the Fort Collins-Loveland Pilots Association, urged the group not to overreact. "When we're talking about extending the runway, we're only talking about a little bit for safety," he said. "Safety is our main issue. Expansion has nothing to do with heavier aircraft."

While neighbor and airline pilot Randy Smith concurred that the airport is unlikely to attract significant commercial carrier traffic, he said the potential 1,000-foot extension of the runway could invite larger aircraft.

"The fact of the matter is we're near an airport and we have to find a way to make it bearable as this area grows," Smith said. He suggested that a curfew on aircraft takeoffs and landings from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. would resolve 90 percent of the neighbors' concerns.

Airport manager Gordon also urged residents to be patient and participate in developing the updated airport master plan.

"I think people need to realize it is a process," he said. "We try to be very careful that we give everybody a chance to weigh in."

Gordon further noted that the plan must balance competing concerns. While nearby neighbors justifiably have worries about the airport's effect on their quality of life, he said the airport also provides an important public service that generates some $33 million annually in direct and indirect benefits.

About 225 aircraft are based at the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport, which posted 110,000 takeoffs and landings in 2004, according to Gordon.