The City of Boulder has dropped its lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration after a federal judge dismissed the case, for now ending the city’s effort to determine whether it can eventually close its municipal airport.
In September, U.S. District Judge Nina Y. Wang dismissed Boulder’s claims largely on procedural grounds, without addressing the core legal question of whether decades-old federal grants require the city to keep the Boulder Municipal Airport open indefinitely.
City officials said they will not appeal the ruling, noting that all land-use decisions involving the airport remain “on hold” for now, according to a city news release.
The city filed the lawsuit in July 2024, seeking a ruling that would allow it to close the airport by 2040, when the city has said its most recent federal grant obligations expire. Wang ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction and that Boulder had not demonstrated immediate harm, dismissing the case without prejudice.
The decision leaves the airport’s long-term future uncertain. Located in northeast Boulder, the facility serves private pilots, flight trainees, gliders and researchers. Advocates for closure have urged the city to repurpose the land for housing, while supporters argue the airport provides important aviation services and should remain open.
While the lawsuit was pending, the city stopped accepting FAA grants. In a news release, city officials said the city will continue to prioritize funding critical safety measures and operate the airport in compliance with federal requirements. The city also plans to begin offering unleaded fuel by 2030, as required under state law.
“Until a final policy decision is reached to inform long-term planning needs, we may accept any grant so long as it does not obligate the city for an extended time or pre-empt the city from making future decisions,” Aisha Ozaslan, a city spokeswoman, told Boulder Reporting Lab.
Ozaslan said the city is not sharing additional details about the legal deliberations that led to the decision not to appeal.
Though the case was dismissed without prejudice and the city could file another lawsuit, the ruling marks a setback for those hoping to clarify Boulder’s legal authority over the airport’s future.
In 2024, residents launched a ballot measure campaign to close the facility and use the land for affordable housing, but withdrew the proposal while the lawsuit played out. As calls to close the airport grew, a counter-effort to preserve it gained momentum as well, with backers warning that shutting it down could trigger a costly legal battle with the FAA.
“We celebrate the city’s prudent decision to decline any new grants that would extend the city’s obligations past 2040,” said Laura Kaplan, a Planning Board member and organizer with the 2024 Airport Neighborhood Campaign ballot committee that sought to close the airport, in an email. “This preserves Boulder’s right to pursue legal relief in the future so that the people of Boulder, not the FAA, retain control over this 174 acres of city-owned land.”
Jan Burton, chair of the Save Boulder Airport committee that sought to fight the potential 2024 ballot measure, said supporters of the city’s airport appreciate the decision not to pursue further legal action.
“We also urge our city leaders to make the straightforward choice to resume accepting FAA maintenance funding, preserving local tax dollars for other critical community priorities,” Burton said.
Despite the city’s reluctance to be transparent, I would like to know how much was spent in the lawsuit against the FAA.
I hope future discussions about the airport will include some vision of where air travel will be in the next 15 years. The use of drones for delivery for bigger items and the possibilities of EVTOL aircraft continue to evolve. It would be a shame to throttle funding at the airport for vague land use plans 15 years from now.
The push to make unleaded fuel more available should start immediately.