GOLDEN — Jefferson County Open Space is collecting community input on the possible acquisition of 964 acres of land surrounding Douglas Mountain in northern Jefferson County.
Jeffco Open Space hosted an informational and input-gathering meeting Wednesday night at its offices in Golden. It will continue to collect input through Oct. 29. If it finds the community is in support of the acquisition, it will move on to the next step, which is negotiating terms of purchase of the land.
Approximately 40 people attended the meeting Wednesday, which included residents who own property near the proposed acquisition and representatives of Jeffco Open Space. Many property owners had questions related to privacy, traffic, boundaries and parking management of a future park.
They are the same concerns raised when the much of the same area was considered for open space in 2004, said Sheila Carlon, who owns property adjacent to the south side of the proposed acquisition along Robinson Hill Road.
Public testimony against the acquisition 10 years ago prompted Jefferson County’s open space advisory committee to table the proposal. Carlon said she was against the acquisition then and not much has changed.
“Unless they would not have an entrance in our area,” she said. “We are bordered already by two entrances to an open space. People moved up to our neighborhood for privacy and to get away from traffic and we’ve all got private back yards and that’s going to increase traffic.We don’t want people to be walking right behind our houses.”
Lynn Billman also owns property adjacent to the proposed open space, but she is in favor of the acquisition. She said she enjoys the open space parks in the area and thinks park staff have managed them well and are working to solve issues surrounding parking.
“I think the open space concept as opposed to private development up there is a much better idea for the animals, all the landowners and the people of the county,” she said.
Tom Hoby, director of Jefferson County parks and open space, presented how the Douglas Mountain area meets the criteria of Jeffco Open Space’s master plan.
One of the site’s biggest advantages is its lack of existing trails, making it easier for park management to create the best trail system for preserving the ecosystem, which appears to be healthy and free of the mountain pine beetle. The land borders land to the north that is also owned by Jeffco Open Space on the other side of Golden Gate Canyon Road, and less than a mile to the south is Centennial Cone Park.
Hoby said some of the questions asked were too specific — about exact placement of trails and allowed uses — but stressed that Jeffco Open Space is already working on a system-wide plan to address parking issues, but having more parks could also alleviate the crowding.
“There’s more people wanting to use Open Space parks than there are parking on trailheads on weekends,” he said. “So having more and dispersing that use helps some of that problem.”
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JosieKlemaier
Douglas mountain open space acquisition
Comments on the possible acquisition will be accepted through Oct. 29 to Nancy York, nyork@jeffco.us or303-271-5966. A log of community comments will be posted at jeffco.us/parks.
