AURORA | Aurora city officials, who had long accused Denver of unfairly trying to amend a long-standing agreement governing the land surrounding Denver International Airport, are now behind a plan that gives Denver the right to allow commercial development as part of a pilot program on up to 1,500 acres around DIA.
Aurora City Council approved a resolution to endorse the agreement Monday night at a study session, and later at a regular meeting on a vote of 7-2. Council members Bob Broom and Molly Markert voted against the measure, and Councilwoman Barb Cleland was absent.
“I’m not confident Aurora is going to receive the best and fairest deal,” Markert said during the regular meeting. “The best thing about this agreement is it lets the voters of Denver and Adams County decide.” After the meeting, Markert said she thought Denver was still getting an unfair share of tax revenue from the deal.
The agreement, which was unveiled in June to the public after years of closed-door negotiations, says that Denver would keep half of the tax revenue and split half of it generated from the new businesses evenly with surrounding municipalities in Adams County. As part of the agreement, Aurora would receive 27 percent of the 50 percent of subsequent annual tax revenues being split between the municipalities.
Denver’s deputy mayor Cary Kennedy estimated in June those tax revenues would add up to anywhere from $160 million to $270 million over three decades.
Aurora would also receive $2.7 million from Denver for the right to develop on the land under the agreement. Denver is paying $10 million upfront, split between Aurora, Commerce City and other smaller municipalities adjoining DIA.
“It gives us extra revenue we might not have had otherwise,” said Councilman Brad Pierce during the study session, who said he believed it was a good contract.
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said the city heavily negotiated for a stipulation that would prevent Denver from seeking new commercial businesses that would compete with the nearby Anschutz Medical Campus and Fitzsimons.
Bob Broom asked during the study session whether the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority would be able to look at Denver proposals and make a determination that a new business is competitive or not.
“If they make a determination, and Denver doesn’t agree, how is that difference settled?” he asked.
Aurora City Manager Skip Noe said that the FRA would have the authority to look over any potentially competitive business and comment. He said if the FRA believes a business would be competitive, it would submit its concerns to the Airport Coordinating Committee — which includes representatives from Adams County, Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, Federal Heights and Thornton.
“If the FRA says [the business] does compete, it means ‘no’ for Denver unless the entire ACC votes to overrule the FRA,” Noe said.
Hogan said during the study session that Aurora would be a third-party beneficiary to the agreement, giving the city the power to sue if it encounters serious issues with how Denver enacts the contract.
“We have the ability to enforce the terms of the agreement in court, assuming we’d have to do that,” Hogan said.
The measure still needs to be approved by Denver and Adams County voters Nov. 3.