Updated plan does not deviate from community desires laid out in Common Ground Recommendations
PITKIN COUNTY, COLO. (Dec. 22, 2023) - A preliminary draft of the Airport Layout Plan (ALP) for the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) will be presented to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for initial review after the Airport Advisory Board (AAB) supported sending the plan forward. Airport staff and consultants will meet with the FAA on January 29 to explain the aspirations included in the updated ALP, which is a map of future development at the airport. ASE, which is a Non-hub Primary Commercial Airport, must meet FAA design standards for safety and accessibility, to be eligible to receive federal funding. Currently, the airport is operating under an ALP developed in 2016.
In November, the AAB, made up of community members appointed by the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners, supported portions of the ALP pertaining to airfield, general aviation facilities, terminal, and landside facilities. The final piece of the ALP the group reviewed Thursday were items defined as Support Facilities such as noise berms, on-site solar, infrastructure to accommodate future electric aircraft, the relocation of structures like the air traffic control tower, and an expansion of the Airport Operations Center, which is where the airport’s snow removal and firefighting operations are located. All of the updates reflected in the ALP align with the Common Ground Recommendations, a set of aspirational community goals approved by the county commissioners.
“As part of this iterative process, all of the Common Ground Recommendations pertaining to the ALP have been translated onto the Airport Layout Plan map,” said Brad Jacobsen co-founder of Jacobsen Daniels, the aviation consultant working on the update to the ALP. “When we meet with our partners at the FAA in late January, our discussion will revolve around this plan.”
“Let’s go to the FAA after 18 months of meeting as a community as part of the ASE Vision process in 2019 and 2020 that led to a resolution approved by the Pitkin County Commissioners, with the message of, this is what we want for our airport,” said Rich Englehart, deputy county manager for Pitkin County.
The Common Ground Recommendations aim to make the future of the airport cleaner, quieter, and safer. They were produced from a series of robust community meetings held in 2019 and 2020. The Airport Advisory Board was formed to ensure these recommendations are included in future plans for the airport. An update of the ALP, which includes an aviation forecast that outlines possible future aircraft that may operate at the airport, was the first step toward redeveloping the airport property that reflects community desires.
Should the FAA want significant changes to the updated ALP following the January meeting, the airport and its consultants will work to develop a plan that meets both parties’ expectations. The goal will be to provide an updated ALP to the Airport Advisory Board for review and then, the Board of Commissioners for Pitkin County, which is the airport sponsor. Should the commissioners choose to move the plan forward, the FAA will review it for final approval. The end result of this work will be the beginning of redevelopment on the airport property, which will be included in a roadmap based on what’s laid out on the ALP map.
“After this ALP is approved and it moves through an environmental review, a roadmap will be created, which details the sequencing or phasing of redevelopment projects over time,” said Brad Jacobsen.
Media contact: Marci Suazo, Pitkin County Communications Manager, (970) 309-2343, marci.suazo@pitkincounty.com