SEE AIRPORT

from South Platte Independent 122222

and reduce air tra c and noise, even forming a group, “Quiet Skies Over Arapahoe County.” e group has a website, bit.ly/quietskies.

In an interview with Colorado Community Media on ursday, Crow said there were a number of residents who contacted his of ce, expressing concerns about the airport.

“A letter is one of the mechanisms that members of Congress have to engage with an administration, so when there are concerns, we can combine our e orts — and in this case, it’s Senator Bennet and Senator Hickenlooper and I – to write a letter to the administration and to the relevant agency expressing concerns and asking for action,” Crow said.

Crow wants to make sure people can enjoy their homes, he said, and it’s important to address anything that would change what people are accustomed to.

“We want to make sure that if they’re changing the pattern over Centennial Airport … the community is engaged, that they have all the information that they need to understand the impact of any of these changes on their homes,” Crow said. “And that the government is fully engaging and being transparent about it.”

In the letter from Crow, Bennet and Hickenlooper, it states that following a 2021 mid-air collision of two planes over the Cherry Creek State Park area, the FAA “shifted the air tra c pattern for the area without consulting the airport or the community, resulting in increased tra c over residential areas.”

Residents have raised concerns related to the tra c pattern change, including noise pollution and lead pollution “due to leaded fuel used by single-engine planes,” per the letter.

Additional concerns include an increase in ight school ights, touchand-go operations and anticipated growth in ights out of the airport, according to the letter. e request sent by Crow, Bennett and Hickenlooper also referenced an o cial letter sent to the FAA by airport leadership in recent months that, as of Dec. 14, had not gotten an o cial response.

During the Centennial Airport Community Noise Roundtable meeting on Dec. 7, Mike Fronapfel, executive director and CEO at Centennial Airport, said he sent a letter on Oct. 19 to Je Lawton, an air tra c manager for the Centennial control tower, with recommendations for the FAA to implement to help address some of the issues the community raised.

At the meeting, Fronapfel asked if he can expect to see a response to the letter, to which one of the FAA representatives explained it is being processed.

In Crow, Bennet and Hickenlooper’s letter, they say they appreciate the FAA’s Denver District General Manager’s recent virtual attendance to the Dec. 7 meeting.

“We encourage in-person attendance, to the greatest extent possible, by an FAA representative at each of the monthly meetings to engage with community members on their concerns and to hear from Centennial Airport o cials on areas where there is a need for greater coordination and support,” the letter states. “We also encourage the FAA to commit to a written response to the community’s concerns.”

Crow said the rst step he’d like to see the FAA take is to attend in person at the community meetings.

“I think it’s important for FAA representatives to attend these meetings in person and to engage fully, and to hear the concerns of residents and provide good information — so that’s the necessary next step,” Crow said. “We want to make sure that as the airport grows and as the use of the airport grows, that the community that lives next to it is involved in that process and fully engaged.”

During the Dec. 7 meeting, three FAA representatives were present and said they heard resident concerns and look forward to working together.

“We are not going to sit on our hands and not do anything,” said Michael Valencia, general manager of the FAA Denver District, at the meeting. “We’re going to build some trust, and you’re going to get to know me.”