Idea for a mountain bike park in Conifer 'doesn't make sense'; Residents push against it
For just more than two years, Phil Bouchard and Jason Evans have been formulating a plan to make their mountain bike dreams a reality: a small Front Range bike ranch with single lift access to good trails. The concept has been widely accepted by the mountain bike community, but the proposed location has been met with controversy.
"Shadow Mountain Drive has been part of Jefferson County's crash analysis. This tiny four mile road because of the number of accidents and the severity of accidents," said Barbara Moss Murphy, a board member of Stop the Bike Park and Conifer resident.
Stop the Bike Park is a nonprofit formed specifically in response to the Shadow Mountain Bike Park. Traffic issues are just one of the many concerns the nonprofit has brought up. Keeping the landscape intact, which includes the Turkey Creek Watershed, is a paramount concern along with fire danger.
"Just imagine what 300 more people a day, that don't live in the area, are going to do to the fire danger," said John Lewis, a board member and Conifer resident.
Bouchard was unavailable for a formal interview Wednesday, but told CBS4 over the phone that he believes incidents of mountain bikers causing forest fires are rare, especially when compared to hiking activity.
There are of course unforeseen circumstances and in an emergency, locals are concerned about access. Shadow Mountain Drive has one way in and one way out. Not ideal as it stands for emergency services. Stop the Bike Park says there has been talk about expanding the road but say the cost is extremely prohibitive.
"The idea is tremendous. It's just the location," said Lewis.
Bouchard and Evans have been very transparent with their plans which are laid out online. They hope to develop 230 acres of rideable terrain with 16 miles of trails, a single lift, a lodge and parking with a cap at 300 vehicles.
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There are several residents in favor of the proposal who would like to see more of these types of recreational opportunities for the area.
Stop the Bike Park says they believe there are other, better locations for the proposal.
"This project doesn't make sense for our emergency service reasons, for our water usage for our environment," said Murphy.
The land is zoned for agriculture use so if the bike park is not approved, it's possible other developments might be.
"The state land board has no intentions of selling that land so it cannot be developed for housing," said Murphy.
Murphy says the community will work with other ideas should they come up but would prefer the land to remain the way it is.
Bouchard told CBS4 that he and Evans have been in contact with the State Land Board and believes that it would be willing to sell the land if the bike park wasn't approved.
"Multiple attempts to put the property into a conservation designation were denied, and the land board has not said the property isn't a candidate to be sold if the bike park were to be denied," said Bouchard.
The plan is not final. A community meeting Wednesday night was the final step before Bouchard and Evans submit the proposal to the county for approval, which Bouchard says he hopes to do next month.
