City and County of Broomfield

RMMA is owned by Jefferson County, and that all decisions with regard to the operations and management of the airport are made by JeffCo. However, the aircraft operations that originate from RMMA, and the associated noise and lead pollution, impact significantly more residents in Broomfield and Boulder counties, than residents of JeffCo. The majority of flights either depart to the north through Superior, Louisville & Lafayette, or the training flights doing touch and go racetrack loops use the south runway. So, they fly over, and within earshot, of Skyestone and Walnut Creek to the south, and Arista Interlocken and well east of Main St. So, many Broomfield communities are impacted.

Airport leadership has made a decision not to update RMMA’s Master Plan which has been updated every 10 years since the airport came into existence. There is good reason for this. A Master Plan includes an assessment of Aviation Demand, a Land Use Plan and Sustainability & Conservation Initiatives, just to name a few of the very important components. RMMA is working on a “simple business plan” and a simple business plan doesn’t do near the amount of detailed assessment that is required in order to make important development and expansion decision.

The last Master Plan was updated in 2011, 10 years ago, and a lot has changed in the surrounding communities since 2011. Airport leadership plans to delay an update to the Master Plan until 2028, which would be published in 2030. Twenty years is way too long to wait for an updated Master Plan. For starters, flight school operations increased 75% between 2010 – 2020. This alone is enough reason to

update the Master Plan because these flight training operations, that number more than 100,000 annually, now create a significant amount of noise and these piston aircraft use leaded AvGas so they drop lead particulate all over our neighborhoods.

I’m sure that you’re aware that the EPA recently reclassified the Denver area to “serious” non-attainment for ozone. The entirety of Jefferson, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Adams and Arapahoe counties, among others, are included in the 8-hour ozone non-attainment areas. According to the EPA NEI Data, 72% of total lead emissions in Colorado in 2017 was caused by piston aircraft. There are no safe levels of lead for humans.

The 100,000 annual aircraft training flights are made using piston aircraft, that run on LEADED fuel. Why would a local government consciously make a decision to allow this amount of operations when we already have substandard air quality? And, on top of this, the airport is pushing additional growth!

Do you realize that one-third to one-half of the piston aircraft that operate out of RMMA can use unleaded gas but RMMA doesn’t sell it? Why doesn’t RMMA sell unleaded AvGas? Vance Brand airport in Longmont does. This would likely be included in the analysis in a Master Plan update.

Is it really a good plan to add to the already poor air quality in the Front Range in order to generate “economic impact”? This doesn’t make residents feel very well cared for by their elected officials.

An update to RMMA’s Master Plan is so important to the local community that the organization Save Our Skies Alliance (SOS) has created a petition to urge JeffCo to update their Master Plan before undertaking any more development. In just two weeks, SOS has gathered more than 1,100 signatures in support of a Master Plan update. At least 150 of the signers are residents of Broomfield County so this is clearly an important issue to your constituents.

Broomfield Community Noise Roundtable member Stan Jezierski, and alternate Deven Shaff, will see a presentation of the “business plan” at the August 9th meeting of the CNR. They must cast a vote of no support on behalf of Broomfield.

Today, I ask you Broomfield Mayor Castriotta and Council members to urge the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, prior to their August 10th meeting, to require a full Master Plan update before any more development and expansion decisions are made by RMMA. I understand that you don’t have authority over JeffCo and RMMA, but I am asking that on behalf of Broomfield residents, you communicate to the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners that you do not support additional development and expansion at RMMA without a full Master Plan update. It is simply reckless for RMMA to continue to expand without first completing a full Master Plan update.

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