Lodi Heritage District bike park under consideration

The Lodi City Council discussed the possibility of a bike park in the Heritage District during Tuesday’s shirtsleeve session.

According to Davin Lozano, who joined James Bates in making a presentation to the council, the idea for the bike park originated from the Asset Community Based Community Development program, which has a goal of revitalizing and rebranding the Eastside/ Heritage District.

Through the program, a community meeting focusing on projects that would help to develop the Eastside was held, and a multi-purpose bike park was one of the projects that was discussed.

Lozano said the overall goal of the project is to provide a safe activity for the youth in the area with the hopes of keeping them out of trouble and getting them exercise while building confidence and self esteem. He said the vision is to have the bike park built in phases with the pump track being the first phase, the jump track being the second phase and the BMX track being the final phase.

The jump track would be the first phase because it’s the easiest part to build, Lozano said.

The jump track would be for beginners and would allow younger riders to hone their skills. The jump track would be for more skilled riders. The BMX track would be the most detailed part of the project and would cost than the other two phases. The BMX track would be used for sanctioned BMX racing, Lozano said.

“I believe that having a track in Lodi would bring more people to the area,” Lozano said. He said several other nearby cities have BMX tracks and people from all over come to attend the races.

The hope is that the bike park group will be able to garner support and volunteers from local youth and their families as well as various community groups such as Bike Lodi, Leadership Lodi, Lodi Boys and Girls Club and the One-Eighty Teen Center to operate and maintain the bike park, Lozano said.

Lozano said the group is looking to various community organizations and businesses to assist with funding. For operational costs, they hope to solicit donations, garner corporate support, hold fundraising events and set up an endowment through a nonprofit.

Because they are looking at locations at under-utilized city parks that are already patrolled by police, Lozano said that the bike park wouldn’t require any additional police resources. In terms of liability, Lozano presented council with Elk Grove’s and Turlock’s ordinances for their bike parks as examples of what Lodi could do. The ordinances state that the cities do not assume any responsibility for injuries that occur at the park. Potential locations for the bike park include Salas Park, Century Park, Lawrence Park and various vacant lots throughout the Heritage District.

There was a concern that if the project was allowed to move forward that the city could end up being left maintaining and overseeing the park, similar to what happened with Lodi’s skate park. Lodi City Manager Steve Schwabauer addressed the concern.

“You’re correct that the skate park was a very grassroots kind of a thing,” Schwabauer said. “It was intended to be funded by volunteerism. The city ended up largely paying for it and largely maintaining it.

“With the bike park concept you’ve got a choice. If you accept the gift do you accept the

liability if the community volunteerism falls apart. If nobody ends up maintaining it and you as the council have the stomach to say ‘okay, the community group that did this thing isn’t stepping up to the plate’ and you scrap it and you’re done, if the council has the stomach to do that you don’t have that exposure. You just have to be willing to say ‘you know what the community group didn’t hold up their end of the deal, so we’re not going to hold ours.’”

Councilman Bob Johnson also weighed in on the concerns, noting how veterans said they were going to pay for the World War II memorial but the city ended up paying for it, and how the city ended up paying for the Grape Bowl when community volunteers fell short of their fundraising goals.

“There has been a history of having people come in and say we’d like this and it’s not going to be any cost to the city, and ultimately down the road it does cost something to the city,” he said.

Johnson said he was a little concerned about the success of volunteer groups based on his experience, and he doesn’t feel the sites presented were the best sites for the park. He suggested considering Pixley Park as a possible site.

“It’s a wide-open space in an industrial area and we don’t know when we would ever get around to building that park,” he said. “Even though it’s not in the Heritage District, if

people are willing drive to other cities for their bike park, then they can come across town.”

While the council showed interest in the bike park, there

are many concerns that still have to be addressed for the project to move forward.

“It’s not no but it’s also not yes,” Councilman Mark Chandler said.