The Denver International Airport annexation agreement was a deal struck between Denver and Adams County when the Stapleton International Airport was still operating.
In the 1980s, there was little if any land available to expand Stapleton, which opened in 1929. Conscious that the city of Denver and the metropolitan area would continue to expand with more businesses, residents and tourists, Denver officials recognized the need for a new airport. Denver officials decided the best place to develop a new airport, and facilitate business growth in the surrounding area, would be a plot of land in Adams County that amounted to about 55 square miles.
In the late 1980s, Adams County officials agreed to ask voters whether they wanted to de-annex about 55 square miles of land, as long as a mutually-beneficial deal could be negotiated between the parties.
In May 1988, Adams County voters agreed to de-annex the land so that Denver could build an upgraded airport, with the promise that any economic development that would take place around the airport would be on Adams County territory, resulting in tax revenue for Adams County and municipalities within Adams County, including Aurora. According to the agreement, which does not expire, only aeronautical, airport-related development is allowed on that land, otherwise the land should be returned to Adams County.
“There were promises made, and guarantees made,” said Adams County Commissioner Chaz Tedesco said. “(Denver) wanted to use the land solely for an airport, and that was part of the agreement. That’s what we’re living by right now.”
Now, Denver is proposing to overhaul that agreement, Tedesco said.