Proposed trailhead forgoes protection of environment
I sincerely thank you for sharing our plight regarding the proposed development of a parking lot and trailhead on the Open Space conservation easement wetland of 109th and Jasper Road by Boulder County Parks and Open Spaces’ East Boulder Creek Site Management Plan.
There is no denying that such an invasive and intrusive buildout will hurt the natural aesthetic beauty of our rural community of 109th and the U. S. 287 farmland corridor.
More importantly, it will have a detrimental effect on all the flora and fauna that provide a safe haven for the diverse wildlife that cohabitate in this special, unique international migratory flyway.
Such a large build could promote a green light to more urbanization, creating not only an obvious eyesore to our disappearing farmlands and open space but also threatening the very wildlife habitat that Parks and Open Space is supposed to protect.
All one has to do is drive eastwest on Isabel Road or Colorado 52, let alone Arapahoe, and surrounding areas, to see all the housing developments that are swiftly taking over what used to be open tracts of land and habitat.
he proposed development for a parking lot and trailhead at 109th and Jasper Road is an illconceived plan with a myriad of contradictions reflecting a lack of foresight not only in vital wildlife open space conservation but how to create an environment where man has minimal impact.
The East Boulder Creek Site proposal, at first sounds good on paper, but when it comes to the plan of execution it lacks a true understanding of what it actually means to “conserve and protect” the natural wildlife and habitat of the open space wetlands.
The community of 109th,
Dana Bove of Front Range Eagle Studies, representative of the Audubon Society Suzanne Bhatt and scores of concerned citizens provided sound, compelling feedback and scientific data as to why this plan lacks a true conservation plan so much so that the Advisory Committee ultimately decided to postpone their vote to recommend approval of the EBC Site Management Plan.
As an example of contradiction, Parks and Open Space’s mission statement for the project states, we “will take into consideration the private property owners who border the Open Space land project” and “we will not encroach on private property, and all existing easements will be honored.”
According to a recent interview with Matthew Bennett, as well as statements made at the recent Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee meeting Nov. 16, Boulder County Parks and Open Space Resource Planner Jeff Moline stated that after the initial unpaved 25- space parking lot, the “total buildout could be up to 40 to 50 parking spots.”
The proposed parking lot on 109th, which is not even the primary lot, will be directly across the road from private property owners who purchased homes here, including myself, thinking that this open space is exactly what it means — “open space” — and that it will be “protected” because, after all, isn’t this Boulder’s and Colorado’s mantra? When one hears the term “open space” we think that it will be protected and remain unsullied by development, and that is exactly what this plan would do — develop at the expense of not only those who live here but most importantly at the expense of the fragile wetland ecosystem that is surviving here and making a comeback because it is currently not and has not been being stressed by heavy human impact.
Going back into this area and imposing man- made trails will be a major stressor to the riparian, the heronry and scores of other bird species that nest on the ground near the water, not to mention all the other animal and plant species.
According to scientific data, which was presented by the public to the Advisory Committee, the trails would be too close to these sensitive wildlife areas creating damaging stressors that the EBC group failed to recognize.
Nowhere in this plan does it truly reflect the protection of the wetlands and its inhabitants but rather it reflects the development of a huge playpen for man.