Travelers surround the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport terminal's baggage claim area in this scene from mid-February. A new group, Citizens Against Bigger Planes, says it has been formed to oppose the county's plans for airside projects that would accommodate bigger planes, but it is not opposed to redevelopment of the terminal building.
A new group formed to fight the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport’s proposed runway projects to accommodate bigger planes says recent polling data shows 57% of county voters are opposed to the idea.
Citizens Against Bigger Planes said in a Thursday news release that while it supports a new terminal and other airport improvements, it does not support a proposed runway widening or greater separation between the runway and taxiway. The projects are touted by many airport redevelopment advocates — including county officials and a majority of the local Airport Advisory Board — as necessary to accommodate the next generation of aircraft with wider wingspans than the current 95-foot limit at ASE.
The new group is calling for a public vote on the runway and taxiway projects in lieu of leaving the ultimate decision on the airport’s future up to the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners.
“A decision as important as this should go to the ballot in November,” a spokesman for CABP said when reached for comment on Thursday.
Citizens Against Bigger Planes “opposes allowing bigger planes such as 737s, Gulfstream 650s and Airbuses to land at one of the world's most dangerous airports,” the release says. Local airport and county officials contend that while the local airport can be difficult to access given weather conditions and the surrounding mountainous terrain, it is not one of the world’s most dangerous air-transport facilities.
“The citizens of Pitkin County deserve a vote on the airport. Doubling the number of passengers that fly into Aspen on each flight means more overcrowding in our community,” Chuck Butler, one of the organizers of the new group, said in the release.
“This modernization plan will allow for private Boeing 737s, which will increase traffic congestion, noise and air pollution in the community, degrading the quality of life in Pitkin County. There is no better symbol of unbridled growth and cruise-ship tourism than allowing for bigger, louder and dirtier planes,” Butler continued.
The new poll conducted by New Bridge Strategy between Feb. 29 and March 4 indicates that 57% of Pitkin County voters oppose widening the separation between the runway and taxiway, with only 40% supporting it.
“This is despite Pitkin County and ASE having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars recently on an advertising blitz,” the release states.
The poll surveyed 300 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6%, according to CABP.
The release says Citizens Against Bigger Planes was formed by a confederation of people from throughout the Roaring Fork Valley who believe that an issue as important — and expensive — as the Airport Layout Plan should be decided by a vote of the people.
“This is about giving the community a voice and about letting the residents of Pitkin County control our own destiny. This is our airport. It’s our vote,” Butler said in a prepared statement.
Reached for further comment, Butler and a spokesperson working with the group declined to say who paid for the poll or how much it cost.
“We’re just getting started,” the spokesperson said. “More information will be forthcoming.” The new group will be hosting a kick-off party and petition drive at the Aspen Golf Course’s Red Mountain Grill on Wednesday from 6-8 p.m.
The group also was asked if it was connected with nonprofit Aspen Fly Right, which is headed by Old Snowmass resident and renowned physicist Amory Lovins. Aspen Fly Right has been countering the county’s push for airside redevelopment projects with information on a number of topics, including what it says is false information about the limited lifespan of the CRJ-700s used by the commercial airlines serving Aspen.
Lovins contends in a guest column published on the Aspen Daily News website Thursday that the community can accomplish its goals for a better airport without redeveloping the runway to accommodate larger aircraft.
Butler said Aspen Fly Right is a group that has been working to educate the public while CABP will be involved in building grassroots momentum toward bringing the central airport redevelopment issue regarding the runway widening and taxiway separation to a vote. Whether that takes the form of Pitkin County commissioners putting a question on the ballot “in a reasonable form” or a citizen’s initiative to force the issue to a vote remains to be seen, he said.
Staff writer Scott Condon contributed to this report.