The Friends of the Crested Butte Airport Association (FCBAA), Inc., today announced that efforts to save this unique airport have been significantly bolstered by recent court rulings.

According to Carlo Cesa, airport owner, and in accordance with Colorado’s Rules of Civil Proceedings (CRCP) 106(4)(a), the county’s "sweetheart" agreement with  a real estate developer was overturned by District Court Judge Dennis Friedrich of Montrose, Colorado.

In a District Court Order (01CV18), the Judge specifically ordered that Gunnison County not allow any further work to take place at the Crested Butte Airport, a news release issued by the non-profit FCBAA group commended.

The legal action was taken to prohibit a land developer from destroying 500 feet of paved runway and replacing it with an access road to the developer's proposed housing project. Had the road been constructed, it would have radically impacted the ability of many aircraft to land safely and made "air ambulance" services to the remote community impossible.

“Mayo wouldn’t be able to operate out of the airport, due to performance limitations on the aircraft imposed by the airport’s high elevation and mountainous terrain, if the runways were any shorter,” said the chief pilot of Mayo Aviation which provides air ambulance and charter services throughout Colorado. 

Crested Butte Airport (3V6) is located in Crested Butte, Colorado, at an elevation of 8,980 feet.  The airport's 4,500-foot long runway services several ski areas, a variety of private flyers and the town's medical air-lift emergencies.

The airport’s owner, Carlo Cesa, was guaranteed public access and certain other privileges when he purchased the commercial airport property, coincidentally from the same developer who then proposed to overturn his contract with Cesa so he could shorten the runway and/or close the airport.

But these facts seemed to have no effect on Gunnison County Commissioners who, backing the real estate development plans, entered into an multi-part deal with the developer of the subdivision.

In addition to shortening the runway and in direct contradiction of previous guarantees made to Cesa, the "sweetheart" agreement enabled the developer to bar most of the potential residents of his proposed subdivision from using the private airport and impose a limit of 15 on the number of local (Gunnison County) pilots who could use the aviation facility.

As if this deal wouldn't have been sweet enough, no terms were spelled out for determining who the fifteen "privileged" pilots would be, how they would be selected or who would choose them.

"Why were other avenues not taken to get to the developer’s property?" asked Ralph McCormick, publisher of Fly-Low.  "Why couldn't the developer go around the runway? Tunnel under the runway? Enter from another area? Why destroy five hundred feet of a short high-altitude runway for the sake of progress?"

Rather than explore these common sense approaches, County Commissioners chose to conduct a closed-door meeting with an "airport expert" and the real estate developer.

"The so-called airport expert hired by the County and the developer, Rick Dunkelberg, of Oklahoma City, in essence suggested that the mountain runway, elevation 8,980 ft. above sea level,  was too long as it is and should be shortened to improve flight safety and to comply with FAA standards," said Cesa. "Such incredulous statements could not be further away from the truth."

In addition, according to the FCBAA news release, "The public was not informed of this meeting, which was held on December 4, 2000, nor was anyone else invited."

Thus four local pilots brought a lawsuit against Gunnison County, alleging that the actions of the Commissioners were “arbitrary and capricious.”

In his recent ruling, District Court Judge Dennis Friedrich ruled favorably for the FCBAA, ordering that no further action by any party may take place in furtherance of the agreement entered into by Gunnison County and the real estate developer in said case (01CV18).

The District Judge maintained that, at first blush, it does appear “curious” that the County Commissioners made a dramatic shift in their earlier ruling that rejected a road across the runway, for safety and other reasons, as first proposed by this same real estate developer in 1999.

The developer then sued the County in District Court and lost the lawsuit. However, shortly thereafter the 2000 elections, for some unknown reason, the County Commissioners, allegedly under threat of further litigation by the real estate developer, reconsidered the same “unsafe” road and approved it. Thus the FCBAA headed back to court again.

In a separate court case, the recent Colorado Court of Appeals ruling affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded portions of the case with directions (01CA1310). The issues included breach of contract, breach of easement, trespass on the easement, fraud, misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, breach of the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA), and claims for declaratory and injunctive relief to require the developer to maintain the runway at its current length and not construct a proposed road at one end (99CV34).

"As we understand these rulings and opinions," the FCBAA news release concluded, " they should be sufficient to prohibit Gunnison County and the real estate developer from shortening the runway and from restricting the use of what would be left of the airport to no more than fifteen local pilots."

And while this is good news and a definite reason to celebrate, the due process by which this outcome was achieved has been costly, disrespectful, arrogant and not at all justice-driven. On top of that, it is not yet clear what additional action the Gunnison County Commissioners may choose to take.

In defiance of the District Court Order (01CV18), and after emerging from yet another "closed-door" executive session, the County Commissioners resolved to (1) move forward with the Stipulation and Agreement with the real-estate developer under the auspices of the County’s Land Use Resolutions; (2) request a another joint public hearing with the Gunnison County Planning Commission; (3) file a motion to "stay" the order of District Court Judge Friedrich; (4) ask for clarifications of the judge’s order; and (5) file a notice of appeal against Judge Friedrich’s order.

In what appears to be a voracious quest to please the developer at any cost, during the public portion of the aforementioned meeting,  just before the motion for the items mentioned above was forwarded, one of the County Commissioners reportedly asked the real estate developer “Is this what you want, Dick?”

Allegedly, the developer’s attorney nodded “yes” and the motion was unanimously approved.

Also significant, based on the Appellate Court Ruling, if Gunnison County Commissioners choose to ignore the appellate decision an pursue their sweetheart agreement with the developer, the County will subject itself to additional lawsuits with Gunnison County taxpayers continuing to fund this battle on behalf of the Denver based real-estate developer.

In the interest of a speedy, just, and proactive outcome, the FCBAA urges all concerned pilots and citizens to call and/or write each Gunnison County Commissioner and request that these officials, who were elected to represent ALL of the citizens of the county, vote to resolve this issue in a manner that provides the greatest benefits to the community, instead of voting in a manner that primarily benefits one Denver-based real estate developer. 

The FCBAA continues to assert that the Crested Butte airport represents a tremendous asset to the community, the future safety of its citizens and the well-being of its economy. 

Contact information for each County Commissioner is listed below.

Friends Of The Crested Butte Airport, Inc.
PO Box 1230
Crested Butte, CO  81224
Tel/Fax 800-663-5374

The Friends of the Crested Butte Airport, Inc., a non profit organization approved to receive fully deductible contributions under IRS tax code 501(c)3, faces very high legal expenses and requests continued support. Contributions are sincerely appreciated.

For More Information:
Crested Butte Airport
Carlo Cesa
avionclub@hotmail.com