Pitkin County Commissioners set to overrule P&Z decision against airport

The Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday to overturn a Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commission finding of “non-conformance” with relevant Master Plans on the proposed layouts for the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport modernization project.

“The why is that you have a runway structure now too that is at end of life,” GR Fielding of Jacobsen Daniels, a consulting firm working with Pitkin County on the modernization project, told the commissioners. “Similarly, you have a commercial terminal that is very aged and near the end of life. Most operations have outgrown the space.”

The “non-conformance” finding came from a series of Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commission meetings in April where those commissioners considered a “Location and Extent Review” for the proposed Aspen/Pitkin County Airport modernization plan. 

Location and Extent Reviews occur when any public amenity is being considered, including roads, parks, buildings or airports. Planning and Zoning must consider whether the proposal is in conformance with any applicable comprehensive or Master Plans in the area – in this case, P&Z commissioners determined the airport project was not in conformance with the Aspen Area Community Plan and the West of Maroon Creek Master Plan. 

There was a concern that the runway widening represented a move toward growth that is out of line with the Master Plans, a concern that the terminal had not been rendered such that commissioners could get a sense of size, a concern that parking expansion also leaned toward growth that was out of line with encouraging mass transit use, worry about the noise of larger airplanes using the larger runway and a worry that “ultrafine” particles, or pollutants, had not been sufficiently studied. 

“When I look at the project in its entirety, and the cumulative impact of all those things together, I just don’t have enough information to make a good decision,” Zachary Matthews, chair of the planning and zoning commission, said at the April 28 meeting. “If I can’t clearly decide whether the project maintains a visually open, low profile corridor that’s envisioned in the (Master Plans), then I can’t vote yes on the project.”

While the Planning and Zoning Commission often has final say on the permissibility of projects, the county does have the opportunity to overrule their finding via a resolution. The resolution must be read twice, public comment must be taken and the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners votes must be recorded into the public record. 

Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners was the first of two readings of such a resolution. 

The room was packed with public commenters Wednesday, both supporters and opposers of the resolution to overrule the Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Board ruling. 

The supporters of the resolution pointed to the voter-supported ballot initiatives, including the 2024 initiative that gave the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners the ability to direct the airport modernization process — that ballot question won out 66% to 33%.

“We’ve had three votes, two in (2024), one in (2025),” Rocky Kroeger, Aspen resident, told the commissioners during public comment. “All three votes were 60% or more to go ahead and give you the opportunity to help us get a better airport. I’m sorry that the people that are against it lost at the ballot box, but we live in America. I think that we’re supposed to have democracy.”

Another ballot initiative that same year affirmed the BOCC’s authority over the airport, and the 2025 bond question to fund the airport modernization project was passed 62% to 37%.

Opposition to Wednesday’s resolution echoed the P&Z sentiments — that the runway expansion shouldn’t be allowed because larger planes were louder and more polluting and that the airport modernization project went too far toward growth. 

“I think everybody in this community wants a new terminal,” Torre, former Aspen Mayor told the board during public comment on Wednesday. “But a lot of people do not want larger airplanes, which bring with them a myriad of growth impacts that we may not be ready for.” 

At the end of the three hours of discussion, the board moved to overrule the Planning and Zoning finding of non-conformity. They also, however, acknowledged the worries of the community and of the P&Z commissioners, and expressed  their intent to address some of those concerns while moving the project forward. 

“‘I’m going to end my comments with one of the letters that we got today,” Commissioner Francie Jacober said. “It says ‘this is literal insanity that this is being discussed. The people have voted. It’s time to move forward with the airport.’ I agree.”

The commissioners will consider the resolution one final time on May 27 before the decision is final.