The Boulder City Council is poised to authorize the use of eminent domain to force a Boulder County property owner to sell his land in order to preserve future federal funding for the Boulder Municipal Airport.
Barry Barnow, a longtime pilot and owner of Boulder Valley Aviation, owns a piece of land at 5864 Rustic Knolls Drive, just outside the airport.
He's been locked in a battle with city officials for years because his property has a half-century-old "through the fence" agreement that gives him the legal authority to taxi an aircraft from his land directly onto the airport runway.
Though there is an aging hangar on the Barnow's property, he does not currently use his through-the-fence authority. But Barnow says he has plans to build on the property and take advantage of that legal right in the future.
City officials say they have to acquire either the property or the access agreement in order to meet Federal Aviation Administration guidelines and maintain federal funding for the airport.
"Staff believes authority to condemn the property is necessary in this circumstance as informal negotiations and efforts to provide the city's appraisal to the property owner have been unsuccessful," a memo sent to City Council on Thursday reads. "Such authority will allow staff to commence the formal negotiations, which are a prerequisite to filing the court action."
The council will be asked Tuesday night to approve the use of eminent domain if those negotiations fail.
"It's definitely not our first choice," said Kathy Haddock, Boulder's senior assistant city attorney.
But she said the city's efforts to work with Barnow have failed, leaving no alternative but to force the sale.
While it's possible the city would go after only the access rights -- which staffers value at no more than $5,000 -- officials wrote in the council memo that forcing the sale of the entire property is in the city's best interest. Doing so would enhance the safety of the airport by creating an additional buffer between it and neighboring houses, as well as preserve the property's "natural state," according to the memo.
If you go
What: Boulder City Council meeting
When: 6 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Boulder Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway
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