Contentious Colorado Springs open space master plan gains first vote of approval

Amid opposition, a master plan for a popular, expanded open space in northwest Colorado Springs is poised for approval.

The Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) working committee voted in unanimous support of the Blodgett Open Space plan that has been more than a year in the making. The 108-page document is meant to be a guide for recreation and conservation management over the next two decades at the city-owned property that has grown to 384 acres in recent years.

Yurt overnights returning to Colorado state park after controversial pause

Following the TOPS working committee decision, final approval now moves to the city's parks board. That meeting is set for next Thursday.

A common refrain is likely to be heard there as it was at the TOPS meeting: "Not everyone is going to be happy," David Deitemeyer said before a packed room.

He's the city parks department's senior landscape architect who over the past 15 months has overseen land studies, surveys and public meetings capturing excitement and angst over trails expanding south of Blodgett's first trailhead along Woodmen Road — south toward the base of Pikeview Quarry.

New gates allowing after-hours exit at Lake Pueblo

There, the plan calls for a parking lot that would initially be built for 50 cars. It is to be the launch point for 2.3 miles of downhill, mountain bike-only trail, as part of a total 14.2-mile network envisioned to be mostly shared by people on foot, including a hiking-only loop.

The so-called Quarry trailhead is a "frightening concept," said Laurie Mehegan of the nearby Oak Valley neighborhood. She called attention to the trailhead access from Allegheny Drive being the only entry and exit road in case of an emergency.

She wasn't the only neighbor at the meeting who spoke against the plan while recalling evacuation nightmares from the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire. Another was Kerri Waite, who called herself an avid mountain biker.

"How urgent is the need to create a mountain bike-centric park in this tiny, important, hard-to-reach and vulnerable part of our beautiful community?" she asked.

Proponents say more mountain bike-only trails are needed to meet rising demand around town and to keep safe separation from other trailgoers. Among supporters is Carol Beckman, a longtime parks advocate and hiker, who added "the plan does have plenty of hiking trails."

She continued, emphasizing taxpayers beyond the neighborhood: "The open space is for everyone in the city, and the master plan should reflect what's best for everyone in the city."

Neighbors have pushed back against claims of NIMBY (not in my backyard) while pointing to the Rampart Range herd of bighorn sheep. Said one at the meeting: "If the parks department was truly aware of the importance and sensitivity of the herd, they would not be proposing this new master plan."

Deitemeyer has stressed "a sustainable trail system" that "will ultimately benefit that wildlife habitat and natural resources rather quickly." The plan calls for shutting down trails and building others outside of "wildlife corridors," what Deitemeyer said were designated in conjunction with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

An agency endorsement has come in the form of a $250,000 grant. With parks board approval, Deitemeyer said the plan would be to match that with another $250,000 from TOPS to build the Quarry trailhead parking lot and start trail construction this year.

It would mark the first realization of what TOPS committee Chairman Bob Falcone called "probably the biggest master plan process that this parks department has ever done."

But some neighbors said they felt ignored by the process and perceived a "theme park" being favored over safety. Contributing to that is what the city has envisioned as a "world-class" bike park possibly at Pikeview Quarry some day, should reclamation by the owning company be successful and a public review find support.

Falcone, a career firefighter, asked neighbors to consider risks posed by development that could have come if the city did not acquire the land. The expanded open space, rather than an expanded neighborhood, "is the far lesser evil of what could be happening," he said.

Not everyone will be happy, said fellow TOPS committee member and neighborhood resident Hank Scarangella.

"But I think this plan goes a long way toward accommodating a lot of varied interests and sometimes conflicting interests," he said.