Airport expansion critics get enough signatures for ballot question

The Pitkin County electorate will get a vote this fall on the future of the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport as a petition submitted by an anti-expansion committee officially received enough signatures to allow a Nov. 5 ballot question.

The county Clerk and Recorder’s Office issued a “Statement of Sufficiency” for the Our Airport, Our Vote issue committee, the campaign arm of the group Citizens Against Bigger Planes, which opposes the county’s plans to widen the runway to provide access to aircraft with larger wingspans, on Wednesday. 

The Clerk accepted 1,000 signatures of 1,203 submitted, healthily above the minimum 772 valid signatures — 5% of the Pitkin County electorate on the day of petition submission. To be considered valid, the signature must belong to a registered Pitkin County voter.

Of the 203 rejected signatures, the Clerk’s Office said the primary reason for denial was incorrect identifying information, such as an address listed with the petition signature did not match county voter rolls. 

Chuck Butler, a founding member of CABP, said the news that the petition effort was successful isn’t a surprise.

“We felt very confident in where we were and how the people felt going in,” he said. “We’re very satisfied with how quickly [the county] turned it around.”