BOULDER - Boulder County commissioners got a preview Tuesday of one rural Lyons' neighborhood's resistance to putting a Heil Valley Ranch trailhead in their midst.
Nancy Kozar, 382 Quartz Way, presented a petition signed by 265 people asking the county commissioners to remove a Red Gulch Road-area site from further consideration for a trailhead with parking spaces for 30 vehicles and three horse trailers.
The petition expressed the signers' concerns that a trailhead at that location would threaten their safety, increase traffic, create fire dangers and jeopardize the rural character of the neighborhood.
Kozar said signers included residents of Red Gulch and Old South St. Vrain roads who would be directly affected by putting the trailhead on the county's Olson open-space property on the east or west side of Red Gulch about 12,000 feet south of Old South St. Vrain.
Others who signed the petition, such as the Kozars, live in nearby Lyons Park Estates, she said - people who "are basically isolationists," and live there "because they want to escape an urban environment."
Kozar said several Lyons residents also signed because they use Red Gulch and Old South St. Vrain roads "to run, walk, bicycle and bird watch. They don't want to see additional traffic on these roads for safety reasons."
The Board of County Commissioners wasn't scheduled to take action on the controversial Heil Valley Ranch trailhead location Tuesday, and commissioners made no formal response to the petition. A public hearing on the trailhead issue tentatively has been set for Sept. 24.
In July, the Boulder County parks and Open Space Advisory Committee recommended that county commissioners consider either the Red Gulch Road location or a site near Lyons Middle/Senior High School for the trailhead.
But the school-area choice, which would require relocation of a softball field, also has sparked opposition from some residents of that neighborhood.
John Fryar can be reached at 303-684-5211 or jfryar@times-call.com.
http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=11113
Nancy Kozar, 382 Quartz Way, presented a petition signed by 265 people asking the county commissioners to remove a Red Gulch Road-area site from further consideration for a trailhead with parking spaces for 30 vehicles and three horse trailers.
The petition expressed the signers' concerns that a trailhead at that location would threaten their safety, increase traffic, create fire dangers and jeopardize the rural character of the neighborhood.
Kozar said signers included residents of Red Gulch and Old South St. Vrain roads who would be directly affected by putting the trailhead on the county's Olson open-space property on the east or west side of Red Gulch about 12,000 feet south of Old South St. Vrain.
Others who signed the petition, such as the Kozars, live in nearby Lyons Park Estates, she said - people who "are basically isolationists," and live there "because they want to escape an urban environment."
Kozar said several Lyons residents also signed because they use Red Gulch and Old South St. Vrain roads "to run, walk, bicycle and bird watch. They don't want to see additional traffic on these roads for safety reasons."
The Board of County Commissioners wasn't scheduled to take action on the controversial Heil Valley Ranch trailhead location Tuesday, and commissioners made no formal response to the petition. A public hearing on the trailhead issue tentatively has been set for Sept. 24.
In July, the Boulder County parks and Open Space Advisory Committee recommended that county commissioners consider either the Red Gulch Road location or a site near Lyons Middle/Senior High School for the trailhead.
But the school-area choice, which would require relocation of a softball field, also has sparked opposition from some residents of that neighborhood.
John Fryar can be reached at 303-684-5211 or jfryar@times-call.com.
http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=11113
