400 homeowners sue county over airport operations, seek compensation

?Photo from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport Facebook pageHundreds of homeowners have filed an inverse condemnation lawsuit against Jefferson County in Colorado, claiming the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC) operates above properties despite the county lacking avigation easements or property rights. The Rock Creek Homeowners group seeks compensation for the homeowners who have been "substantially deprived of the use and enjoyment of their homes and properties because of Defendant's ongoing airport operations." The homeowners' website, Reclaim Rock Creek, states that the homeowners have all signed an easement or waiver to allow BJC to operate over their homes under limited conditions. In June 2023, a ruling favored the homeowners, finding the Jeffco Airport violated the easement put in place when Rock Creek was built in the 1990s. With this ruling, planes taking off from the airport could no longer fly over the Rock Creek homes. A map shown on the site shows that certain property zones are part of a "no-fly" zone. Homeowners in this zone are invited to join the suit to "end unwelcome noise and lead pollution that RMMA airport traffic produces daily." Reclaim Rock Creek claims that Jeffco Airport has disregarded the easement agreement and is looking to expand its operations. Residents in the no-fly zone are seeking compensation through an inverse condemnation lawsuit. An inverse condemnation lawsuit is a special statutory proceeding to be tried as if it were an eminent domain proceeding, which concerns the issues relating to the compensation owed for governmental use of private property but cannot address collateral issues that could change the scope of the proceedings. According to the Colorado Sun, inverse condemnation addresses a government agency that damages or decreases the value of private property without obtaining ownership through eminent domain. Hundreds of individuals are listed on the suit, each seeking compensation for claims that the airport operations have prevented them from enjoying their homes. The Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport is the third busiest in Colorado, with a landing roughly every two minutes in 2022. The airport is owned and operated by Jefferson County, Colorado. Homeowners have rights to the airspace above their homes. In rural areas, homeowners own the airspace up to 500 feet and in congested areas, like Rock Creek, homeowners own the airspace up to 1,000 feet. The 2023 suit ended the easements that previously existed. The Boulder County District Court found that 9 of the 29 prior easements were terminated according to the terms. Despite the court order, the suit alleges that the county has continued airport operations as if the easements were still legally applicable. The suit also claims that the county has not pursued new easement rights from homeowners or offered to pay compensation for continued airport operations. The suit states that the county has continued to increase the number of operations at the airport, including flight school training flights that often include low-flying exercises like touch-and-go take off and landings or planes flying in looping patterns day and night. In the suit, homeowners allege that the planes make 10-15 loops in a single training flight and there could be multiple flights in a pattern at once. Some homeowners have claimed to track 20-40 touch-and-go takeoffs and landings by a single plane during a training flight, with one plane conducting 58 loops in a single training flight. Another allegation in the suit is that harmful lead particles found in aviation fuel used by small planes are dropped onto the properties below, raising concerns over health and property values. The homeowners claim the airport operations are affecting the marketability and value of the properties and preventing the hundreds of individuals named on the suit from enjoying their homes. With the suit, the homeowners allege that the county continued airport operations with the full knowledge that it lacks property rights to do so and with the full knowledge of the impact these operations have on the properties and homeowners. The county is a government entity and operates the airport for public use, while impacting the homeowners' property rights, requiring payment of just compensation under the Colorado constitution. The homeowners have filed the inverse condemnation suit, asking for compensation to be awarded to property owners for the "direct taking of their properties and for the damaging of their properties caused by public improvements and activities. The Rock Creek homeowners are seeking a court ruling that the interests in their properties were taken and damaged, which would define the scope of rights that have been permanently or temporarily taken and set a valuation trial to the jury to determine the just compensation owed. The homeowners are also seeking the award of attorney fees, expert and other litigation costs, statutory interest provided by law and other appropriate relief. Rock Creek hopes the judges will rule in favor of the homeowners and the suit will convince Jefferson County and the airport to change operations. The County has denied comments to numerous local news outlets, stating it will not discuss pending litigation. Fox 31 Denver said that the airport announced in early 2023 that it would be transitioning to unleaded fuel within the next four years and has a noise abatement program and voluntary flight path to reduce noise. In September, U.S. reps representing areas around the airport wrote a letter to the FAA, demanding the noise pollution problem be addressed. Fox 31 also reported that the airport recently had a manager leave the job, followed by four board member resignations. The homeowners addressed lead and noise in the suit, which the airport is reportedly already working on. For residents, they allege it is not enough. The suit was filed on Dec. 21 and no ruling has been made yet.