Here’s some need-to-know information for the week:
City to extend Airport Community Conversation project timeline into January 2024
The city is committed to understanding the community’s vision for the Boulder Municipal Airport and to collaboratively developing a range of possible scenarios for the airport’s future. As you know, the city’s Transportation & Mobility Department is conducting the Airport Community Conversation, a community engagement project designed to solicit and learn from the many diverse perspectives in our community. Recently, a decision was made to extend the amount of time for this conversation. Engagement will now span the full year.
The team will use a variety of engagement strategies, including individual interviews, a Community Working Group (CWG), and broader input opportunities such as open houses and online questionnaires. This project is intended to fulfill a goal set in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan Section 6.23, which states, “at the time of the next Airport Master Plan, the city will work with the community to reassess the potential for developing a portion of the airport for housing and neighborhood-serving uses.”
In the process of conducting individual interviews with airport stakeholders, staff identified a need for additional flexibility to conduct more meaningful community engagement. Extending the project timeline from seven months to a year will allow for staff to achieve the level of engagement this project requires. While the project goals remain the same, the engagement approach is currently being refined and expanded. This includes additional CWG meetings and an additional open house to provide sufficient time for in-depth community dialogue and workshopping toward a shared vision.
The CWG application is currently open to the public and will close on Tuesday, Feb. 28. CWG participants from the city will include a member of the city’s Community Connectors; Ryan Schuchard of the city’s Transportation Advisory Board; and Laura Kaplan of the city’s Planning Board. CWG meetings will be accessible to the public with a limited allotted time for public comment at the beginning of each meeting. The first CWG meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 14 from 4 to 6 p.m.
For more information, please contact the project manager, Senior Transportation Planner Allison Moore-Farrell, at moorefarrella@bouldercolorado.gov, or Interim Director of Transportation and Mobility Natalie Stiffler at stifflern@bouldercolorado.gov.
Regards,
Nuria