Aug. 14—The two Boulder airport ballot measures slated for this fall's ballot may see a few small changes before they go to voters.
The ballot measures seek to close the airport and convert the area to a neighborhood with a portion of the homes designated as affordable housing. They are citizen initiatives, meaning that citizens circulated petitions for the measures and were required to gather a certain number of signatures for each one to qualify for the ballot.
The Airport Neighborhood Campaign, which sponsored these measures, gathered more than the required 3,401 signatures for each one, so legally, the airport measures have qualified for the fall 2024 ballot. But city staffers negotiated with the campaign to come up with slightly modified versions of the airport ballot measures, which are similar in spirit to the originals but could create a little more flexibility and ease in how the policies will be implemented if they pass.
The revised ballot measures would bar the city from encumbering or enhancing the airport property in any way that would "further delay or increase the financial cost to the city of decommissioning the Boulder Municipal Airport." This would block the city from taking future grant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (the city must keep the airport open for another 20 years every time it accepts FAA grant funding).
The alternate version of the "Runways to Neighborhoods" measure would take away the requirement for the area to have at least 50% of its housing in the city's permanently affordable homes program. Homes in this program are deed-restricted to remain perpetually affordable to people making no more than 121% of the area median income. For a family of four, the upper income limit would be $176,370.
Instead, it would be a "fundamental desired outcome" to make at least 50% of on-site units "affordable in perpetuity." It's a subtle change in language that would give the city leeway to have slightly less than 50% affordable housing in the area, and it would also allow for the units to be made affordable through any mechanism, including (but not limited to) the city's current affordable homes program.
Both alternative ballot measures would allow the ordinances to be amended or repealed "if additional analysis demonstrates decommissioning is infeasible." Boulder filed a lawsuit against the FAA to clarify how long the city must keep its airport open. If the city cannot close the airport, this language could make it easier for the ordinances to be changed or repealed.
Laura Kaplan, a member of the Airport Neighborhood Campaign who also sits on the city's Planning Board, said city staffers wanted to make sure the ballot measure language would be appropriate for city code and also implementable.
"We thought we did a really good job with the original language, but with time and perspective and more people being involved, you can take a good thing and make it even better," she said. "We think that the changes that are being proposed in the alternate version(s) are good, and we support them as well."
Mayor Aaron Brockett told the Daily Camera he doesn't see the changes as "terribly substantive." He also believes that if the alternative measures were to pass and the requirement for 50% affordable housing were removed, the city would still be bound to make a significant proportion of the airport-area housing affordable.
"In the theoretical situation where the FAA has been compensated and there's remediation that's needed (and) infrastructure put in, it's unclear how all the finances would work out after that," he said. "So would 50% affordable housing be possible? It's unclear, but I think the city would be bound to put as much there as would be feasible."
Brockett said he has not decided yet which pair of airport measures he will vote for, and he sees "pros and cons" to either option.
The original airport ballot measures are not completely off the table. If the council votes to approve the original measures, they will move ahead to the ballot. But if it opts for the alternative measures, those will go to voters as referred measures, and the petitioners will withdraw their original petitions.
City Council members will consider the original and alternative airport ballot measures alongside several other measures for this fall's ballot at Thursday night's council meeting.
Originally Published: August 14, 2024 at 4:57 p.m.
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