BROOMFIELD, Colo. — A long-standing fight centered over aircraft noise at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (RMMA) is headed to court.
More than 400 homeowners in the Rock Creek subdivision of Superior have sued Jefferson County, which owns and operates the airport. That neighborhood, first subdivided in 1987, is located less than a mile northeast of the airport directly in line with the runways.
RMMA, or better known as JeffCo airport, was opened in 1960 and is run as a enterprise-fund by JeffCo. With increased development being seen around the airport in recent years, that's come at the cost of increased traffic as well. The airport currently ranks as the third-busiest in Colorado with almost 300,000 take offs and landings counted in the year 2022 (the most recent year for which data is available).
The lawsuit currently seeks an unspecified amount for damages, for what it says has been a significant increase in flight operations at RMMA. It alleges the increased traffic has led to detrimental effects in the area, such as increased exposure to leaded fuel and decreased home values. In addition, it accuses the airport of violating their airspace, otherwise known as an "avigation easement".
Avigation easements are essentially the right of flight in the airspace above or in the vicinity of a particular property. According to the lawsuit, between 1991-1996, 29 of those avigation easements were granted, covering the entire Rock Creek neighborhood. Those lasted until 2020 when the Rock Creek Homeowners Association sued Jefferson County to eliminate all the easements. They cited excess noise levels than what was written into the easements as the reason for that lawsuit. In an ensuing ruling by a Boulder County District Judge, nine of those avigation easements were terminated.
In this current lawsuit, all the properties owned by the plaintiffs fall within the nine easements terminated back in 2020.
Switch to unleaded fuel
Two Colorado airports have already announced switching from leaded fuel to unleaded fuel: Rocky Mountain Metro Airport (RMMA) and Centennial Airport.
Centennial Airport was the first airport to announce this transition in March, while RMMA announced in October they are working to make an accelerated transition before 2030, the deadline set by the FAA.
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a new initiative to eliminate leaded aviation fuel.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS