Residents Roll Out Concerns About Shadow Mountain Bike Park

Shadow Mountain Drive is a paved two-lane road with no shoulders that twists through the mountains of Conifer. Joe Wienand, a semi-retired engineer who's been a resident of the town since 2015, says that in the time he’s lived off Shadow Mountain Drive, there have been at least fifty crashes, including three he’s come across himself. “It’s not a safe road for people who don’t know it,” he says.

And he's worried that it soon could be a lot less safe.

Wienand is a member of the Conifer & South Evergreen Community Committee, which is holding a meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, October 17. Though Wienand and his neighbors are concerned about safety issues on the road in general, they’re also thinking about the impact of a new business venture.

Also at the meeting will be Phil Bouchard and Jason Evans, who are working on plans to build a mountain-bike park that would use Shadow Mountain Drive for access.

Bouchard and Evans grew up together in New Hampshire, where they often went to Highland Mountain Bike Park, the first independent chairlift-access mountain-bike park in the country. The two became IT professionals and both moved to Denver, where Bouchard’s father had grown up. Whenever he visited relatives in Colorado, Bouchard always knew he’d move here.

“I was really excited to get into riding in the state of Colorado,” Bouchard says. “I'm not gonna say I've ridden every mile of trail in Colorado, but I've spent a lot of time on the road. Jason and I felt that there was just a lack of mountain bike-only, really, truly professionally designed trail offerings in the state.”

Although some ski resorts offer mountain biking, it’s always secondary to skiing; the altitude of most ski areas leads to a short season for mountain biking. The two saw an opportunity to create a mountain bike-specific area at a lower elevation: Shadow Mountain Bike Park. Rather than going for a resort model, the pair decided to keep it simple with a small lodge area, an electric chairlift and trails. They landed on the location off Shadow Mountain Drive after researching various spots where they could lease land for the park.
The Colorado State Land Board, which owns the area, granted Bouchard and Evans a planning lease that allows them to complete feasibility studies and then propose a plan to Jefferson County for consideration.

“That location just kept coming up as one where it made sense in terms of what they would like to leverage the property for, and it made sense to us for operational reasons,” Bouchard says of the State Land Board. Those reasons include location, topography and a lack of sun that will help keep the soil at proper moisture levels for mountain biking.

The State Land Board manages trust assets on behalf of public schools in Colorado, with earnings going toward projects to improve schools throughout the state. It owns 3 million acres of land, leasing the property for many purposes, including agriculture, renewable energy, oil and gas, and recreation.

Kristin Kemp, outreach and communication officer for the State Land Board, notes that the board defers to the county completely when it comes to decision-making about such projects, so Bouchard and Evans will work with Jefferson County to determine if their project is a fit. That process will include public hearings where residents can contribute their thoughts; the October 17 meeting about the road is independent of the official process.

At that meeting, Colorado State Patrol Captain Larry Oletski will speak about his years patrolling Shadow Mountain Drive; although the road is in Jefferson County, the CSP has an agreement with the county to respond to monitor this stretch rather than leave it to the county deputies.

Bouchard says they’ve considered the road’s safety in their planning, particularly as it pertains to any traffic the bike park might generate. It would likely generate less traffic than a real estate venture, he adds, and would be better for the environment than a mining operation.
But Wienand says most of the neighbors of the planned park he's spoken to aren't happy with the idea of the bike park because it's not close to the 285 corridor, where the county plan for development indicates new development should take place. Instead, Shadow Mountain is in a rural, neighborhood area.

“My ask of people, when I have conversations with them, is, can you evaluate this in the context of development pressure that is facing the Conifer, Evergreen, Morrison, the more rural Front Range areas?" Bouchard responds. “By that I mean, look at the type of developments that have gone in, or are slated to go in, over the last decade. Look at the impact those developments have had in terms of the amount of homes that have been built, the amount of commercial facilities that have been built, the amount of water that's being used, the amount of land that used to be open trees and forest that is now closely dotted homes and private property.”

In the coming months, Bouchard and Evans will submit their proposal to Jefferson County Planning & Zoning, which will go through a process of public discussion and engagement before a final ruling by the county commissioners. But in the meantime, they think they have a "compelling story to tell" to the community. They want people to consider the benefits of a recreational asset that isn’t just homes or parking lots or commercial buildings. But they also say that they understand residents being concerned about the quality of life.

And saving lives.

“This meeting is about the road and the safety of this road,” Wienand says. “Because no matter what happens with the bike park, we’ve got to live here. It's not so much targeting the bike park; it’s targeting this road for some safety improvements.”