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Council directs staff to negotiate airport leases after proposals for about 183 new hangars draw operational questions
Summary
Council directed staff to negotiate with High Flying Hangars and Shadow Air Management to develop airport parcels; the proposals could add roughly 170 hangars on a 40-acre site and about 13 on the East GA area, prompting council and pilot concerns about operations and infrastructure.
Boulder City Council voted June 24 to direct staff to enter negotiations with developers recommended in an airport RFP, after the airport manager described three proposals for two parcels and council members and pilots raised questions about operations and infrastructure.
Marissa, the city’s airport manager, said the evaluation committee recommends High Flying Hangars for the roughly 40-acre northwest area and Shadow Air Management for the East GA area. She said High Flying proposed building about 170 hangars, a clubhouse and taxi connections to Taxiway Bravo; Shadow Air proposed expanding a 2.6-acre East GA parcel to 3.1 acres for roughly 13 hangars.
"High Flying Hangars proposed utilizing the 40 acre development…to build a 170 hangars and a clubhouse," Marissa said while outlining the committee’s recommendation. She said the committee conducted two appraisals for each parcel and used the average appraisal in setting price expectations.
Councilmembers pressed staff on whether hangars would be managed centrally, whether appraisals formed the basis for asking prices, and whether FAA work on a new tower would affect siting and heights. Marissa said the city will coordinate FAA line-of-sight reviews, environmental assessments and lease conditions as part of the next steps.
"There is some concern about the significant significant increase in the total number of hangars…which would greatly increase the operations at the airport," said Kevin Ward, founder of Shadow Air Management, urging council to consider demand and operational impacts. Ward said the airport currently has roughly 130 hangars and that the combined proposals could substantially increase airport operations.
Councilman Walton moved, and Mayor Pro Tem Jorgensen seconded, a motion to direct staff to enter negotiations with High Flying Hangars for the 40-acre area and Shadow Air Management for the East GA hangar area. The motion passed unanimously.
Staff and council emphasized that construction and any large increases in hangar inventory would be phased and would require infrastructure evaluations, FAA coordination and environmental reviews before final lease approval.
Next procedural steps include formal lease negotiations and any required environmental and FAA reviews; council did not take final lease action at this meeting.
