JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Jefferson County commissioners voted 2-1 on Tuesday to deny a proposal for a special use permit that would have allowed for the construction of a mountain bike park in a residential area of Conifer.
Of the three commissioners, Andrew Kerr and Leslie DahlKemper voted to deny the permit to build the Shadow Mountain Bike Park, according to Stop the Bike Park, a nonprofit that opposed the park. Tracy Kraft-Tharp voted to approve it. The decision ended a four-year disagreement between supporters and opponents of the park.
According to the proposal and park's website, the commercial lift-accessed downhill bike park would have been 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 have covered 230 rideable acres and 16 miles of trail, and stayed open from April through October. The project was 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.
In the spring of 2023, thousands of people signed a petition opposing the project.
By late September 2024, Jefferson County Planning commissioners voted unanimously to recommend that county commissioners deny a special use permit. This recommendation came after three nights of community input, which included more than 100 people providing testimony.
Stop the Bike Park said that in Jefferson County Planning commissioners' vote, the group 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
On Tuesday, Barbara Moss Murphy, founder of Stop the Bike Park, said "it is a wonderful feeling" to have their concerns validated.
“We are grateful the County Commissioners agreed with us in a resounding vote against a commercial bike park that does not belong in a residential neighborhood with winding two lane roads and only one way in or out in case of a wildfire," Murphy said in a press release.
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 to Jefferson County Planning commissioners in September.
Bouchard told Denver7 in September that even though the Jefferson County Planning commissioners recommended denying the permit, which ultimately did happen this week, he was still proud of his team's efforts.
"I'm thankful to everybody who has supported it over the years and look forward to whatever comes next," he said in September.
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