When a developer started eyeing a piece of property for a housing development less than a mile from Centennial Airport (APA) in Centennial, Colo., just outside Denver, it wasn’t just the aviation community that raised the alarm. The business community and local homeowners association raised the cries of opposition, as well.
The proposal was to develop a 380-acre parcel of unincorporated land near Centennial Airport, in an area that is currently not zoned for residential building.
“The development was proposed about a quarter of a mile from the airport,” said Robert Olislagers, the airport’s executive director. “The house closest to the runway would be about 1,666 feet away.”
According to articles that appeared in the local newspapers, the development, called Tanterra at Centennial, called for construction of 1,615 residential units, 500,000 square feet of retail and office space and some off-site improvements. Armstrong Capital Development and 7353 Investments, the two companies behind the proposal, wanted the city of Centennial to annex the land and rezone it to allow residential buildings. The project’s price tag would run in the tens of millions of dollars, although developers didn’t give an exact estimate.
Repeated attempts to reach the developers were unsuccessful.
Olislagers said the local homeowners association was especially vocal about the noise that would be inflicted on the homeowners should the development take place — not only from the airport, but from a race track that is next to the airport.
“We built the track as a means to protect the airport from incompatible use,” said Olislagers. “Indy league racing team guys use that track in the off-season and it is right up against the fence line.”
According to Olislagers, the property targeted for development is within the Restricted Development Area, but that didn’t stop a developer from pitching the idea to the City Council.
“Both the city and the county, under whose jurisdiction the project would fall, said no way,” said Olislagers.