JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Jefferson County Planning commissioners have voted unanimously to recommend that county commissioners deny a special use permit for a proposed mountain bike park to be built in a residential area of Conifer.
The vote — which a park co-founder explained to Denver7 as not exactly a surprise — came down on Monday evening, according to Stop the Bike Park, a nonprofit that opposes the creation of the Shadow Mountain Bike Park. The Jefferson County commissioners are scheduled to make a final decision on the proposal on Nov. 12 at 9 a.m.
According to the proposal and park's website, the commercial lift-accessed downhill bike park would be built on a parcel of State Land Trust property in a residential area of Shadow Mountain in Conifer, a little more than two miles southwest of Aspen Park. It would cover 230 rideable acres and 16 miles of trail and would stay open from April through October. The project is supported by the Colorado Mountain Bike Association.
Word of the project first started in the fall of 2020 and grew into a polarizing discussion between mountain bike enthusiasts and residents in the area. Denver7 spoke with neighbors and the park organizers late in 2021 to learn more about the concerns and false rumors that were surrounding it at the time.
Thousands of people signed a petition in the spring of 2023 opposing the project.
Monday's vote came after three nights of community input on Sept. 11, 12 and 23. More than 100 community members provided testimony about the impacts of the park.
Watch our coverage below leading up to those three meetings.
Stop the Bike Park said that in Jefferson County Planning commissioners' vote, they cited the following reasons to deny the special use permit:
- The use was too intensive for a residential community
- The burden on Elk Creek Fire to provide EMS services was too high
- It is a priority area for wildlife
- The impact on the health, safety and welfare of the neighbors was too high
“From day one so many of us who have lived for decades on or near Shadow Mountain Drive have known this commercial development just didn't make sense,” said Barbara Moss Murphy, founder of Stop the Bike Park. “We have been diligent in our research opposing this commercial enterprise and we are gratified that the Planning Commissioners heard our arguments and agreed with us that a commercial bike park doesn’t belong in a residential neighborhood with winding two lane roads and only one way in or out in case of a wildfire.”
Stop the Bike Park board member John Lewis said in a press release that having a bike park is a "terrific idea," but the location for this specific proposal would "irrevocably damage the wildlife and valuable ecosystems, generate numerous safety issues like car crashes and wildfire risk, and destroy an entire neighborhood."
The nonprofit's website shared a 380-page overview of their opposition to the project, which dives into extensive detail about every aspect of their concerns. They also shared the applicants' — Phil Bouchard and Jason Evans — presentation.
"In communities with the demand for outdoor recreation like we see along the Front Range, designated use trails are a key strategy to improving trail users' experiences and preserving our wildlife habitats," Gary Moore, executive director of the Colorado Mountain Bike Association, said in an emailed statement. "The need for a project like this is still there and would benefit both the trails community and our public lands if planned and executed correctly."
In a phone interview Tuesday, Bouchard told Denver7 that it is now up to his team to decide the next steps and if they can structure the project in a way to alleviate the concerns raised during Monday evening's meeting. If so, they will take the proposal to the county commissioners.
"Everybody wants to win, right? But I think, honestly, I wouldn't describe last night's vote as surprising," he said.
Shadow Mountain Bike Park would be Colorado's "first dedicated lift-accessed freeride downhill mountain bike park," the website reads, and therefore, the planning commission did not have a similar project to look at for potential impacts, Bouchard said.
"I think it's not necessarily surprising that planning staff and a planning commission, who really are tasked with reviewing applications pretty much in lockstep with county statute, would recommend denial of a project like this," he said. "...When you introduce a new concept that none of those things have ever accounted for, because it didn't exist, it's tough to find a way to make it completely compliant."
He thanked the thousands of people who have supported the project, adding that they are the reason he, alongside Evans, have kept this project going. But it is ultimately a land use decision, and that lies with the county commissioners.
"I think, you know, even though we didn't get the outcome that we were hoping for, I think everybody did a really good job," Bouchard said. "I was very impressed with the application we put together. I was very impressed with the way our team presented it. And I'm thankful to everybody who has supported it over the years and look forward to whatever comes next."
