Place the record directly on Hughes Open Space and the proposed bicycle park

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By Jared Ross | Fort Collins based in the poet's neighborhood

I recently received a strongly formulated e -mail from a group called Planning Action to sustainably transform Hughes (paths). They spread misleading accusations of the interests of the Hughes Open Space ownership and I would like to clarify the record. First, they claim that the citizens voted to make the Hughes Stadium ownership an ecologically preserved natural area. That is not true. The city's ballot initiative instructed the city to change the zoning of the property to a public country (pole) and try to buy the property from the CSU for fair market value. The city has made both things successful. While the most ambitious early supporters intended for the ballot papers that ownership can be classified as a designation Natural areaThis name is not the same as Public open space. According to Section 2.5.5 of the city use of the city:

“The public district is for large public parks and open countries that have a parish -related focus or other characteristics that justify the inclusion within the framework of this separate name and not in an adjacent neighborhood or other district name.” This is open, but technically this enables a variety of public use. The city also has other districts such as river protection, which is intended for areas with a larger environment.

In bold text paths, the “Leisure Tourism Bike Park Lobby” accuses the interests of the “Roughshod” community. They claim that there is a lot of money behind it, but do not provide any evidence. A bike park is a place for a diverse group of community members to enjoy your favorite pastime or to learn something new. Public property will remain so that no direct profit needs to be made. The embassy of the paths would make her believe that Vail Resorts would like to develop a global goal in our Foothills in Fort Collins. This could not be further away from the truth. A bicycle park would only take a third of the entire Hughes ownership. It would include a bathroom, a possible drinking water supply, parking and the park path itself. No 30 dollars -hamburgers or 200 dollars. With regard to Monied interests, the Chamber of Commerce from Fort Collins Flyer financed in the “Yes” campaign for the original election initiative.

The paths also claim that the city's civil workers are not transparent. This is simply not the case. There is a well-published online survey with plenty of space for people to express their thoughts about Hughes. The city made time available during the council meetings to tackle this topic with public commentary times, and there will be more in the future. A community survey of 2023 shows a bicycle park at the top of the list of options for what to do with the Hughes room. (Source

The environmental problems associated with the property of Hughes are also worth mentioning. In this country, a stadium of 32,500 capacities with space for parking, tailgating and all other human activities in connection with College Football was once held. This is not an untouched nature area or delicate wetlands. A photo on the CSU website shows the deconstruction process with a huge stack of concrete rubble.

If we want to be good administrators of our environment, places like Hughes are exactly where we should do things like bicycle parks. There are many rest in our community. Other options that are closer to the apartment mean reduced activities and leisure development in our untouched wilderness areas. Bike Park facilities also offer our children an exciting option for physical activity and, depending on their age, can get there via the wonderful trail system of our city. This is also a win-win situation for the environment, since a bicycle park at home means less drive for everyone.

If you spend some time on the website of the USDA Web Soil Survey website, an unobtrusive soil quality shows, which means that it is not good for the support of a abundant ecosystem. The city estimates that it would take at least 3.5 to $ 4 million to restore this property in a natural state state and to build other necessary hiking trails and facilities. It is also worth noting that Fort Collins already has 52 natural areas that protect 36,000 acres.

One of the things I love in Fort Collins is our support for a lively variety of activities in the community. A bicycle park would be a wonderful addition to our already fantastic repertoire of public institutions and services.

Jared Ross
Fort Collins based in the poet's neighborhood