"I'm not afraid to say not in my backyard. They're talking about endangering myself and my family," says Steve Bisque, president of the Blue Mountain Land & Homeowners Association and a member of the family that developed the neighborhood.
At some point during the next four years, the county could install a trailhead and a parking lot at 9775 Blue Mountain Drive in Arvada, which is just a stone's throw from the entrance to Blue Mountain Estates and its million-dollar homes. Fast drivers coming off Highway 72, the disturbance of elk migration patterns and visitors filling the small neighborhood are among the reasons Bisque says he and his neighbors oppose Jefferson County's plans.
"They want to put a large parking lot right down at the mouth of our community, where there is a train track and firehouse," Bisque says. "Right where they want to put this parking lot is the elks' favorite place to hang out in the springtime."
By 2027, Jefferson County plans to open trails into a portion of the Coal Creek Study Area, a patchwork of land that it acquired, mostly for wildlife preservation, for $35.7 million over the course of four decades. Although it's still early in the process, the county is looking for a place to put a trailhead and parking lot in order to give hikers access to the nearly untouched stretch of wilderness just beyond the property lines of homeowners in Blue Mountain Estates.
"If they want to give access to that open space, there's a better place to do it," Bisque argues. "It doesn't seem to me like [Jefferson County staff] want to discuss — they just want to do what they want to do."
Brad Swartzwelter says he's the lone Blue Mountain resident supporting the trailhead opening close to his neighborhood. For the past three years, he's volunteered as a land steward for the Coal Creek Study Area, hiking through the county's acquired land to survey and note signs of trespassing, intrusion and wildlife.
Swartzwelter says that Bisque and his neighbors are hiding their true concerns: a swarm of metro-area residents "bothering their piece of tranquility."
"They will do absolutely everything to prevent any of 'those people' from coming up to their valley, which of course isn't their valley at all," he says. "It belongs to the people of the county."
Since 1981, Jefferson County has been buying land to form the 7,200-acre area for a "high quality" home for native vegetation and wildlife like jumping mice, butterflies and elk. The county doesn't need the whole study area for preservation, so it's carving out a 1,255-acre chunk — about a sixth of the total area — for public open space, with hiking trails built and maintained by the county.
Blue Mountain Estates is completely surrounded by the study area, and the proposed hiking trails would run through land north of the neighborhood. According to the Coal Creek Study Area website, Jefferson County bought the forty acres of land east of Blue Mountain Estates from the Bisque family in 1998 for preservation.
If plans are approved, a parking lot and trailhead would be built next to this firehouse at 9775 Blue Mountain Drive in Arvada.
Bennito L. Kelty
Kristina Duff, a senior planner for JCOS, says the hiking area presents a lot obstacles, including "steep topography, federally threatened species, floodplains, railroad crossings, road access and proximity to utilities and neighborhoods."
The county wants a trailhead to be a half-mile from Highway 72, which marks the northern edge of the study area, and by a road that "would not bring the general public through the existing neighborhoods," Duff says. Jefferson County also wants to prevent "unwanted roadside parking" near Blue Mountain Estates and the nearby firehouse, she adds.
Robbins says the county has not yet officially approved the trailhead for 9775 Blue Mountain Road, but criteria and planning keep leading eyes back to that spot.
"We studied the elements of the [hiking area], and it includes the topography, what's happening on the ground with wildlife, the flora and the fauna and other things," he says. "I have not heard anyone tell me we have to come in off Blue Mountain Drive from the fire station, but what we're looking at is using the northern portion of that part for access. It's just leading us there."
Jefferson County has until 2027 to pick a location for the trailhead, design the trails and obtain proper permitting, according to Duff. Trail construction will likely begin before the trailhead and parking lot because of "seasonal limitations" and because the trails take more time, she adds, but the county has no firm deadline for trail construction.
Swartzwelter notes that if Bisque or anyone else from Blue Mountain owned the land where the trailhead was being proposed, he wouldn't have a problem with his neighbors opposing it. But Jefferson County bought the land with taxpayer money, so it belongs to the county and its residents.
"Ultimately, this shouldn't be a dictatorial decision on what the county does," he says. "It should be a democratic decision, and the people of Jefferson County — including the people here in Blue Mountain — should be the ones that make the decision."
According to Swartzwelter, the county bought the land with the added intention of keeping it from being developed into homes.
"The county has been trying to buy up parcels of land whenever they can to prevent that and leave some wilderness," he says. "And it's been tremendously successful. Basically, once you get over the top of Blue Mountain, you've got county open space all the way until you get to Golden Gate [Canyon] State Park."
The boundaries of the Coal Creek Study Area stretch from the eastern edges of Coal Creek Canyon and Golden Gate Canyon State Park to the western edge of Arvada. The northern edge runs along Highway 72, and its southern edge stops near Ralston Creek and White Ranch Park. According to Jefferson County plans, all of that would remain untouched except the hiking area, which includes short mountains and valleys south of Highway 72 and just west of Arvada's borders.
The proposed trailhead that has Bisque angry would be near a firehouse, surrounded by a handful of cows, fencing and train tracks for a nearby Union Pacific line. The trailhead and parking lot would be located a few yards from the intersection of Highway 72 and Blue Mountain Drive, and a few yards from the entrance to Blue Mountain Estates.
"Frankly, I don’t think they have thought it through," Bisque says of the county's plans. "My father placed 48 acres into a conservation easement to keep this area undeveloped and benefit the wildlife. He passed in 2014, and we wish to continue to work to maintain the beauty of the area. A trail system as proposed will negatively impact the elk, deer, bear and cougars."
Brad Swartzwelter says he is the only Blue Mountain resident in favor the proposed trailhead and parking lot.
Bennito L. Kelty
"These fences are all private fences. If they were concerned about the elk herd, wouldn't they take them down?" he asks. "If the people were really concerned about the elk or jumping mouse or the native grasses, they would tear down their house and plant native grass and move away."
Blue Mountain Estates, a community of about 120 homes and 300 people, is "a small number" compared to the 580,000 residents of Jefferson County, according to Swartzwelter.
"All of us are paying for this land," he points out.
According to Duff, the project area trails are expected to have "a lower density" of hikers compared to other trails owned by Jefferson County. As Jefferson County Open Space makes a decision about the trailhead, the department will consider the concerns from Blue Mountain residents, she says.
"This is a complex area with many factors we are trying to design around," she concludes. "We take the concerns of the neighborhood seriously, and it is our responsibility to understand and balance all of the potential impacts across potential locations before taking ideas off the table."
