Boulder Open Space Community Collaborative Group
Neighborhood Representatives
Update and Additional Request for Public Comment
For more information see:
http://west-tsa-neighborhood-comments.blogspot.com/
General Update
After having spent much of the last year doing background work, the Community Collaborative Group has now entered a phase where members are rapidly presenting a broad range of very specific proposals for improving the way in which Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) administers, the West-TSA (OSMP properties north of Eldorado Springs, west of Broadway, and South of Linden).
At this point a lot of ideas have been presented and have received enough support to assure that they will be seriously considered. It's also clear that very deep divisions exist within the CCG with no agreement yet reached on any major issue. At this point it appears that were headed for a couple of major reconciliation meetings later this fall with the expectation is that we'll be able to negotiate a substantial number of win-win trade-offs that will, hopefully, leave the various interest groups feeling that they have received more than they have given up.
Before we get to that point, however, the CCG is planning to continue its four-hour, every other week, map mark-up meetings. During these meetings ideas are carefully presented and debated with the advantages and disadvantages that members see in each proposal systematically recorded and ultimately posted on the OSMP CCG website. (This is accessible from the right hand link column on the comment website -- see above link.)
As we promised earlier, we will be sending an occasional e-mails (like this one) updating you on the process and asking for your comments on the various proposals. We promise to bring your comments to the attention of all CCG members and to do our best to find a fair and sensible way of balancing the many competing interests that exist within the neighborhood caucus and between the caucus larger community.
We would also like to thank everyone who has already taken the time to submit comments using our website. We realize that it's a bit cumbersome to use. Still, it's the best we could do on a nonexistent budget and tight time schedule. We appreciate your patience. And, we continue to invite you to submit additional comments:
http://west-tsa-neighborhood-comments.blogspot.com/
Parking Lot Rumors
To start with, let us try to clarify misunderstandings that still persist with respect to the much-maligned "parking lot proposals" for the Lehigh/Greenbrier andBear Canyon substation. First, there was never any formal proposal to do this. This was never anything more than a brainstorming suggestion for limiting streetside parking around OSMP access points. As long as the neighbors that these lots were intended to benefit clearly don't want them, we, as neighborhood representatives, will oppose them. And, we are virtually certain that no other CCG member would propose them. So, the bottom line is that this idea is dead (even though it was never really alive). OSMP's use of the word "proposal" on its website to describe these very preliminary ideas may have contributed to misunderstandings about this.
Mountain Bikes
There have also been considerable misunderstandings regarding what exactly has been proposed by the mountain bike representative. Many think that his proposal is much more extensive than it really is. At this point, the only operative proposal before the CCG was a very preliminary proposal presented by Mark McIntyre on May 3.
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/openspace/pdf_TSA_West/CCG/CCG%20Proposals/Mark%20McIntyre.pdf
The mountain bike community is now in the process of preparing a revised proposal which, hopefully, will address the many concerns that have been raised by neighborhood caucus members about the original proposal. The CCG mountain bike representative, Mark McIntyre is away until the middle of August. After that, we expect to receive information about how the mountain bike community intends to revise their proposal in light of public comments. We will then promptly post information about these ideas along with a request for your comments on the latest ideas.
Current plans (which may change) call for the CCG to consider the mountain bike issue at an early- to mid-September meeting. With this in mind, please have all initial comments on the mountain bike issue in by August 14th so Mark can take them into account when he prepares his revised proposal. We will also try to give you as much time as possible to comment on the revised proposal before the CCG mountain bike meeting. In any event, we will make sure that the CCG fully understands the nature of neighborhood comments, the intensity with which they are presented, and the large numbers of people expressing similar views.
It would be helpful if we could get volunteers representing each point of view to put together a 1 to 2 page "read this first" summary document for CCG members. If you would be interested in doing this please send an e-mail to west.tsa.neighborhood.reps@gmail.com
Other CCG Issues
It's important to recognize that there are great many proposals on other issues that are being considered or likely to be considered by the CCG. The decisions made could have a profound impact on both the level of environmental protection and the nature of the visitor experience. If we are to represent you successfully, we need to understand what you think. So, we urge you not to neglect issues other than mountain bikes and parking lots.
Dogs
Throughout the CCG's deliberations, disagreements regarding dog management have hovered just below the surface without ever being fully addressed. Repeatedly, a comprehensive discussion of the "dog issue" has been put off to some unspecified future date. It's now clear that this is going to have to occur sometime in the next couple months. So if you have views on how dogs should be managed, now is the time to get your comments in.
CCG Work Done Thus Far
At this point, the CCG has has worked its way through two major sections of the West TSA -- the North Area (north of Canyon) and the West area (Flagstaff and the Habitat Conservation Area on the west side of Green Mountain and Bear Peak). The official, though occasionally cryptic summary of these discussions is available on the CCG site for the North Area and soon for the West Area.
During the next two meetings, the CCG will be considering the Central Area (the area from Boulder Canyon south to Bear Canyon but excluding the area around NCAR. After that, our understanding is that there will be a mid-September session devoted to mountain bikes. After that there will be a couple of sessions devoted to other South area issues.
IMPORTANT : Notes on proposal being considered and the official schedule (which may well change) is found on the CCG site:
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13324&Itemid=3763
The following are examples of some of the more significant proposals that are being considered. Keep in mind that the ideas are only briefly summarized here. Official information is or will be soon be posted on the CCG website. This website also contains information on the many additional ideas that have been suggested.
For Green Mountain: Restructuring of the Greenman, Ranger, Green Mountain West Ridge, and Long Canyon Trails.
At the last meeting the OSMP representative proposed a far-reaching realignment of trails at Green Mountain. The Departmernt's proposed changes start at the Green Mountain Lodge just south of the Flagstaff Road and the Realization Point parking lot. To start with, they propose closing and restoring the existing trail from the Green Mountain Lodge to the Ranger/Greenman junction.
This trail segment would then be replaced by what might be called a "new standard" trail. OSMP believes that trails built to this standard are much less costly to maintain and less prone to erosion problems. In general, they are longer with a gentler grade, big traverses, and occasional switchbacks. The recently reconstructed section of the Greenman trail was built in this way.
They also propose completely closing and restoring the rest of the Ranger trail and routing all traffic onto the recently reconstructed Greenman trail. At roughly the point where the reconstructed section ends (above the junction with the Saddle Rock Trail), they propose completely closing and restoring the rest of the Greenman Trail and replacing it with a "new standard" trail that would slowly wrap around Green Mountain to the West where it would intersect the West Ridge Trail at a point below the current junction of the Ranger and West Ridge trails.
Above this point the West Ridge Trail would be permanently closed and restored. All traffic to Green Mountain would be channeled onto a continuation of the new trail which would continue to wrap around Green Mountain to the south where it would intersect a newly reconstructed trail into Bear Canyon. (This trail would also be constructed to the new standard and would replace the existing trail which would be restored.) Eventually the new Green Mountain Trail would switch back around to the north side of Green Mountain and eventually make its way to the summit.
To provide a loop hike, the West Ridge trail would be retained and would be rerouted to move it away from the houses and comply with the new trail construction standard.
It would eventually intersect with the Upper Flagstaff / Kossler Lake Road and another "new standard" trail that would be constructed to take you back to the Green Mountain Lodge. This new trail would be located roughly halfway between the existing Long Canyon Trail and the road.
Finally, the Long Canyon Trail would be reconfigured to emphasize nature observation by closing it at the south end of the canyon and forcing people wanting to visit the area to do an "out and back" hike preventing the canyon from being used as part of the Green Mountain loop.
Among the advantages cited for this proposal are more sustainable, easier-to-maintain trails, a modest expansion of the size of the unfragmented habitat block in Long and Panther Canyons, and reduced traffic on the environmentally sensitive Long Canyon Trail. The downsides expressed include increased crowding on the single remaining Green Mountain Trail and loss of a highly valued loop hike. Comments on this can be entered under trail system changes on the comment website.
Social Trails
A big focus of the CCG is a systematic review of undesignated social trails to determine which should be retained and converted to designated trails (which may or may not be added to the official Open Space Map) and which should be closed and restored.
Many social trails are heavily used by the neighbors that we represent and provide a highly valued and much less crowded experience. So, it is important that know what you think about the these trails. Keep in mind that retained social trails could either be added to the regular trail inventory (which is likely to increase traffic) or simply maintained "as is" with additional maintenance.
West Mount Sanitas Sunshine Canyon
One major cluster of social trails than many CCG members want to retain is found on the west side of Mount Sanitas and south side of sunshine Canyon. The West Sanitas trail represents an interesting compromise. In order to continue to provide access to the area and to better protect the environment, the plan is to reroute the trail along the periphery of the area leaving a much larger block of unfragmented habitat in the center.
Anonome Hill / Poorman Hill
This area (west of Red Rocks) also contains a major cluster of social trails that has strong support for retention. Included would be a trail that roughly follows the City's water pipeline, a trail that follows the ridge, and a new connector trail. Apart from the connector trail, these trails are quite well-established and heavily used. There is also a more controversial proposal to build a short connector from the top of the climbers descent trail at the Dome / Elephants Buttresses at the mouth of Boulder Canyon. (This trail features bridges, switchbacks, carve steps, and is suitable for non-climbers.) This would provide a much larger a large parking lot and a spectacular hike out of the canyon. It could also reduce pressure on neighborhood trailheads.
Red Rocks/Settlers Park
The CCG has a subcommittee that is evaluating trails in the this area in hopes of improving on the current maze of designated and undesignated trails.
Towhee Trail
Another interesting (but not yet formally proposed the idea) is the possible closure of the Towhee Trail (at the south end of the Mesa Trail) to protect the sensitive riparian habitat. Traffic would be rerouted onto a new trail that would go up the mesa and hogback to the south.
Environmental Protection
Underlying all CCG deliberations are efforts to protect newly mapped, Highly Suitable Habitat areas. These areas (as well as slightly less desirable nearby areas) identify, for each habitat type, the best areas for Open Space's many sensitive plants and animals. The protection of these areas along with the older Habitat Conservation Areas is a major priority. There is considerable support for managing the trail system in ways which provides a very high level of protection for these areas.
Chautauqua Neighborhood Congestion
Finally, the CCG will be considering during the next two meetings proposals for dealing with neighborhood congestion around the Chautauqua area.
http://west-tsa-neighborhood-comments.blogspot.com/
General Update
After having spent much of the last year doing background work, the Community Collaborative Group has now entered a phase where members are rapidly presenting a broad range of very specific proposals for improving the way in which Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) administers, the West-TSA (OSMP properties north of Eldorado Springs, west of Broadway, and South of Linden).
At this point a lot of ideas have been presented and have received enough support to assure that they will be seriously considered. It's also clear that very deep divisions exist within the CCG with no agreement yet reached on any major issue. At this point it appears that were headed for a couple of major reconciliation meetings later this fall with the expectation is that we'll be able to negotiate a substantial number of win-win trade-offs that will, hopefully, leave the various interest groups feeling that they have received more than they have given up.
Before we get to that point, however, the CCG is planning to continue its four-hour, every other week, map mark-up meetings. During these meetings ideas are carefully presented and debated with the advantages and disadvantages that members see in each proposal systematically recorded and ultimately posted on the OSMP CCG website. (This is accessible from the right hand link column on the comment website -- see above link.)
As we promised earlier, we will be sending an occasional e-mails (like this one) updating you on the process and asking for your comments on the various proposals. We promise to bring your comments to the attention of all CCG members and to do our best to find a fair and sensible way of balancing the many competing interests that exist within the neighborhood caucus and between the caucus larger community.
We would also like to thank everyone who has already taken the time to submit comments using our website. We realize that it's a bit cumbersome to use. Still, it's the best we could do on a nonexistent budget and tight time schedule. We appreciate your patience. And, we continue to invite you to submit additional comments:
http://west-tsa-neighborhood-comments.blogspot.com/
Parking Lot Rumors
To start with, let us try to clarify misunderstandings that still persist with respect to the much-maligned "parking lot proposals" for the Lehigh/Greenbrier andBear Canyon substation. First, there was never any formal proposal to do this. This was never anything more than a brainstorming suggestion for limiting streetside parking around OSMP access points. As long as the neighbors that these lots were intended to benefit clearly don't want them, we, as neighborhood representatives, will oppose them. And, we are virtually certain that no other CCG member would propose them. So, the bottom line is that this idea is dead (even though it was never really alive). OSMP's use of the word "proposal" on its website to describe these very preliminary ideas may have contributed to misunderstandings about this.
Mountain Bikes
There have also been considerable misunderstandings regarding what exactly has been proposed by the mountain bike representative. Many think that his proposal is much more extensive than it really is. At this point, the only operative proposal before the CCG was a very preliminary proposal presented by Mark McIntyre on May 3.
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/openspace/pdf_TSA_West/CCG/CCG%20Proposals/Mark%20McIntyre.pdf
The mountain bike community is now in the process of preparing a revised proposal which, hopefully, will address the many concerns that have been raised by neighborhood caucus members about the original proposal. The CCG mountain bike representative, Mark McIntyre is away until the middle of August. After that, we expect to receive information about how the mountain bike community intends to revise their proposal in light of public comments. We will then promptly post information about these ideas along with a request for your comments on the latest ideas.
Current plans (which may change) call for the CCG to consider the mountain bike issue at an early- to mid-September meeting. With this in mind, please have all initial comments on the mountain bike issue in by August 14th so Mark can take them into account when he prepares his revised proposal. We will also try to give you as much time as possible to comment on the revised proposal before the CCG mountain bike meeting. In any event, we will make sure that the CCG fully understands the nature of neighborhood comments, the intensity with which they are presented, and the large numbers of people expressing similar views.
It would be helpful if we could get volunteers representing each point of view to put together a 1 to 2 page "read this first" summary document for CCG members. If you would be interested in doing this please send an e-mail to west.tsa.neighborhood.reps@gmail.com
Other CCG Issues
It's important to recognize that there are great many proposals on other issues that are being considered or likely to be considered by the CCG. The decisions made could have a profound impact on both the level of environmental protection and the nature of the visitor experience. If we are to represent you successfully, we need to understand what you think. So, we urge you not to neglect issues other than mountain bikes and parking lots.
Dogs
Throughout the CCG's deliberations, disagreements regarding dog management have hovered just below the surface without ever being fully addressed. Repeatedly, a comprehensive discussion of the "dog issue" has been put off to some unspecified future date. It's now clear that this is going to have to occur sometime in the next couple months. So if you have views on how dogs should be managed, now is the time to get your comments in.
CCG Work Done Thus Far
At this point, the CCG has has worked its way through two major sections of the West TSA -- the North Area (north of Canyon) and the West area (Flagstaff and the Habitat Conservation Area on the west side of Green Mountain and Bear Peak). The official, though occasionally cryptic summary of these discussions is available on the CCG site for the North Area and soon for the West Area.
During the next two meetings, the CCG will be considering the Central Area (the area from Boulder Canyon south to Bear Canyon but excluding the area around NCAR. After that, our understanding is that there will be a mid-September session devoted to mountain bikes. After that there will be a couple of sessions devoted to other South area issues.
IMPORTANT : Notes on proposal being considered and the official schedule (which may well change) is found on the CCG site:
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13324&Itemid=3763
The following are examples of some of the more significant proposals that are being considered. Keep in mind that the ideas are only briefly summarized here. Official information is or will be soon be posted on the CCG website. This website also contains information on the many additional ideas that have been suggested.
For Green Mountain: Restructuring of the Greenman, Ranger, Green Mountain West Ridge, and Long Canyon Trails.
At the last meeting the OSMP representative proposed a far-reaching realignment of trails at Green Mountain. The Departmernt's proposed changes start at the Green Mountain Lodge just south of the Flagstaff Road and the Realization Point parking lot. To start with, they propose closing and restoring the existing trail from the Green Mountain Lodge to the Ranger/Greenman junction.
This trail segment would then be replaced by what might be called a "new standard" trail. OSMP believes that trails built to this standard are much less costly to maintain and less prone to erosion problems. In general, they are longer with a gentler grade, big traverses, and occasional switchbacks. The recently reconstructed section of the Greenman trail was built in this way.
They also propose completely closing and restoring the rest of the Ranger trail and routing all traffic onto the recently reconstructed Greenman trail. At roughly the point where the reconstructed section ends (above the junction with the Saddle Rock Trail), they propose completely closing and restoring the rest of the Greenman Trail and replacing it with a "new standard" trail that would slowly wrap around Green Mountain to the West where it would intersect the West Ridge Trail at a point below the current junction of the Ranger and West Ridge trails.
Above this point the West Ridge Trail would be permanently closed and restored. All traffic to Green Mountain would be channeled onto a continuation of the new trail which would continue to wrap around Green Mountain to the south where it would intersect a newly reconstructed trail into Bear Canyon. (This trail would also be constructed to the new standard and would replace the existing trail which would be restored.) Eventually the new Green Mountain Trail would switch back around to the north side of Green Mountain and eventually make its way to the summit.
To provide a loop hike, the West Ridge trail would be retained and would be rerouted to move it away from the houses and comply with the new trail construction standard.
It would eventually intersect with the Upper Flagstaff / Kossler Lake Road and another "new standard" trail that would be constructed to take you back to the Green Mountain Lodge. This new trail would be located roughly halfway between the existing Long Canyon Trail and the road.
Finally, the Long Canyon Trail would be reconfigured to emphasize nature observation by closing it at the south end of the canyon and forcing people wanting to visit the area to do an "out and back" hike preventing the canyon from being used as part of the Green Mountain loop.
Among the advantages cited for this proposal are more sustainable, easier-to-maintain trails, a modest expansion of the size of the unfragmented habitat block in Long and Panther Canyons, and reduced traffic on the environmentally sensitive Long Canyon Trail. The downsides expressed include increased crowding on the single remaining Green Mountain Trail and loss of a highly valued loop hike. Comments on this can be entered under trail system changes on the comment website.
Social Trails
A big focus of the CCG is a systematic review of undesignated social trails to determine which should be retained and converted to designated trails (which may or may not be added to the official Open Space Map) and which should be closed and restored.
Many social trails are heavily used by the neighbors that we represent and provide a highly valued and much less crowded experience. So, it is important that know what you think about the these trails. Keep in mind that retained social trails could either be added to the regular trail inventory (which is likely to increase traffic) or simply maintained "as is" with additional maintenance.
West Mount Sanitas Sunshine Canyon
One major cluster of social trails than many CCG members want to retain is found on the west side of Mount Sanitas and south side of sunshine Canyon. The West Sanitas trail represents an interesting compromise. In order to continue to provide access to the area and to better protect the environment, the plan is to reroute the trail along the periphery of the area leaving a much larger block of unfragmented habitat in the center.
Anonome Hill / Poorman Hill
This area (west of Red Rocks) also contains a major cluster of social trails that has strong support for retention. Included would be a trail that roughly follows the City's water pipeline, a trail that follows the ridge, and a new connector trail. Apart from the connector trail, these trails are quite well-established and heavily used. There is also a more controversial proposal to build a short connector from the top of the climbers descent trail at the Dome / Elephants Buttresses at the mouth of Boulder Canyon. (This trail features bridges, switchbacks, carve steps, and is suitable for non-climbers.) This would provide a much larger a large parking lot and a spectacular hike out of the canyon. It could also reduce pressure on neighborhood trailheads.
Red Rocks/Settlers Park
The CCG has a subcommittee that is evaluating trails in the this area in hopes of improving on the current maze of designated and undesignated trails.
Towhee Trail
Another interesting (but not yet formally proposed the idea) is the possible closure of the Towhee Trail (at the south end of the Mesa Trail) to protect the sensitive riparian habitat. Traffic would be rerouted onto a new trail that would go up the mesa and hogback to the south.
Environmental Protection
Underlying all CCG deliberations are efforts to protect newly mapped, Highly Suitable Habitat areas. These areas (as well as slightly less desirable nearby areas) identify, for each habitat type, the best areas for Open Space's many sensitive plants and animals. The protection of these areas along with the older Habitat Conservation Areas is a major priority. There is considerable support for managing the trail system in ways which provides a very high level of protection for these areas.
Chautauqua Neighborhood Congestion
Finally, the CCG will be considering during the next two meetings proposals for dealing with neighborhood congestion around the Chautauqua area.
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Post a Comment
Please be sure that you are entering your comments on the appropriate page (Supporting Comments, Opposing Comments, or Compromise Ideas).
YOU MUST INCLUDE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, AND THE AREA IN WHICH YOU LIVE (SEE LIST BELOW.)
Otherwise your comment may be deleted.
For the "comment as" box, the easiest thing to do is comment as "anonymous" (just include your name and address in the body of your comment).
Information about common comment posting problems is found at the top of the right hand link column.
Also, please e-mail us your comments at west.tsa.neighborhood.reps@gmail.com. That way, if there is a problem, you can contact you. You must do this if you want us to add you to the mailing list.
Comment areas:
- North Neighborhood -- North of Canyon, West of Broadway
- Central Neighborhood -- Between Table Mesa and Canyon. West
of Broadway
- South Neighborhood -- south of Trable Mesa and west of Broadway
- East Boulder -- east of Broadway
As "West of Broadway" Neighborhood Representatives we do not represent East Boulder interests. We will, however, make your comments available to other CCG representatives who are responsible for representing your interests. We also encourage you to contact your representatives directly. (See right hand column for links.)
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.