Why neighbors say Boise legally cannot develop park site — and why city hired law firm
After an outcry from neighbors, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean tried to lay the dispute over the future of a piece of undeveloped Southwest Boise land to rest. At last week’s City Council meeting, she confirmed that the city will hold off on its annexation until officials have more discussions with the community.
City Council members have faced backlash for months after they considered addressing Boise’s housing shortage by swapping or selling a Parks and Recreation property to a housing developer. Neighbors protested, saying they had been promised for decades that the property in question, known as the Murgoitio parcel, would be turned into a Southwest regional park similar to Ann Morrison or Julia Davis parks.
That led to the mayor’s pause. But advocates of a park aren’t ready to drop the issue.
They’re still fighting to turn the 157-acre Murgoitio into the park they’ve been promised since 1998. McLean sees the parcel as a place to build affordable housing. The property is owned by the city but located outside city limits between Cole and Maple Grove roads north of the New York canal.
With Murgoitio decisions removed from city agendas, park advocates seem ready to play offense instead of defense. They say building housing on the Murgoitio property would violate federal aviation rules. The city and the Boise Airport are hiring a law firm to look into the matter.
Airport administrators are finalizing a contract with the Denver branch of law firm Kaplan Kirsch Rockwell. Sean Briggs, Boise Airport spokesperson, said the firm has expertise in Federal Aviation Administration land-use requirements and will seek to confirm they are in “compliance with all applicable rules and regulations.”
Here are in-depth answers to four key questions raised by neighbors’ objections to the city’s role in the Murgoitio parcel.
1. Would Murgoitio development violate previous agreements?
The Boise Airport owned the Murgoitio property between 1992 and 1998. When the Parks and Recreation Department purchased it from the airport in 1998, the city promised it would not put residential development there.
The City Council has the power to undo those resolutions. However, it would have to reimburse the airport for the breach. Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jennifer Tomlinson originally said the reimbursement would be $620,000, the original purchase price paid for the land. However, considering the land’s increased value, Boise Airport officials believe they should receive more, something Kaplan Kirsch Rockwell will investigate.
“Regardless of how a property is acquired, federal regulations require the Boise Airport to receive fair market value when disposing of property or it could be considered revenue diversion,” Briggs said by email.
2. Were federal grants used to purchase the Murgoitio parcel?
The Friends of Murgoitio, a nonprofit fighting to save the park plan, have said they believe the Boise Airport used FAA grants to purchase the Murgoitio parcel in 1992. As city spokesperson Bonnie Shelton later acknowledged, when a member requested two airport funding records on June 24, the city violated Idaho law by ignoring the request for nearly two months, and it ignored a July 19 letter from Friends of Murgoitio attorney Brian Ertz demanding a response.
Shelton said she worked with the city legal department to resolve the delays last week. Friends of Murgoitio members were able to view one of the sets of documents requested on Friday.
Airport officials have denied allegations of using federal grants to purchase the property in 1992.
“The Boise Airport received no federal funding associated with the Murgoitio parcel,” Briggs said. “The parcel was purchased solely with airport sponsor enterprise funds. The enterprise funds used to purchase the parcel did not include any grant funds or local taxpayer dollars. Records indicate the Boise Airport considered the possibility of federal funding for the Murgoitio parcel. However, the airport never moved forward with applying for federal grant funding nor received any federal grant funding for the parcel.”
Briggs provided the Idaho Statesman with documents detailing its spending of federal grants.
A 2001 document shows that in 1992, the airport used federal grants to acquire an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle, construct an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting training facility, install an access control system, install signs, install handicap-accessible improvements and install new terminal doors.
A 2021 document from the FAA detailing how all grants received by the Boise Airport were used does not include the acquisition of the Murgoitio parcel.
3. Would Murgoitio housing jeopardize the Boise Airport?
Two former Idaho Air National Guard commanding generals, Darrell Manning and Gary Sayler, and Dale Henry, a general who worked at Gowen Field for 47 years, say development threatens the future of the Boise Airport.
The generals submitted a letter on Aug. 6 to “city, military and congressional officials” about “serious concerns’‘ over “developers’ potential projects … adding thousands of new homes in Southwest Boise surrounding the airport.”
“Our Boise Airport is now a ‘downtown airport,’ and unfortunately without proper aviation easements, community, local and federal government support, it will be faced with the challenges that closed the Santa Monica Airport (and) Chicago Meigs Field … ,” the letter states.
However, the Boise Airport situation differs from the Santa Monica and Chicago Meigs Field cases. Unlike the Boise Airport, both airports were secondary airports in areas with a larger primary airport. In both closure cases, it was city governments that wanted to close the airports.
The Santa Monica Airport will close in 2028 following a lawsuit in which the city sued the FAA. The city wanted to close the airport because it is “unsafe, noisy and pollutes nearby neighborhoods with potentially harmful aircraft exhaust,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Chicago Meigs Field Airport closed after then-Mayor Richard Daley secretly had the runway bulldozed overnight in 2003. Daley said it was to prevent the airport from becoming a terrorism target, though many suspected it was Daley’s way of getting the park he had long wanted at the location.
4. Will noise be an issue if Murgoitio is developed?
While it doesn’t appear the Boise Airport is at risk of closing, lawsuits against Boise Airport over noise complaints are always possible. The Denver International Airport, another example raised by the generals, most recently had to pay $33.5 million for noise violations.
In a 1993 memo, Boise Airport Manager John Anderson wrote that the airport was able to acquire the Murgoitio site “for noise mitigation, as the site is in the flight pattern for the runways.”
In 1981, the FAA began a program to reduce the number of people exposed to airport noise. It is a voluntary program that advocates a number of approaches, including purchasing land near airports to maintain compatible land use or provide sound insulation for homes.
However, the Murgoitio parcel is located more than 2 miles west of the airport in an area where the Boise Airport says residential development is in compliance with federal regulations.
“There are no federal requirements to designate the Murgoitio parcel as a park site,” Briggs said. “The Murgoitio parcel is located in Airport Influence Area A. Zoning regulations allow for residential development in Airport Influence Area A.”
Airport Director Rebecca Hupp said a report on the legal counsel’s findings regarding whether development of the Murgoitio site is in compliance with federal rules will be made available to the City Council in September.
Sally Krutzig covers Treasure Valley growth and development. Have a story suggestion or a question? Email Krutzig at skrutzig@idahostatesman.com.
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
