BIKE PARK

it was likely that the county would assess the fees, but it was too soon to tell since the proposed development has not gone to the Planning Commission for a recommendation or the county commissioners for a decision. If the bike park is approved and the possessory interest taxes are assessed, the county would distribute the taxes proportionally to the taxing entities where the property is located, he said.

is information counters statements from some Conifer residents who believe the proposed bike park would not pay any taxes to o set services from entities such as the Elk Creek Fire Protection District.

The proposal, concerns about EMS requirements e developers of the proposed Shadow Mountain Bike Park led an application with Je erson County in January for a special-use permit to put the downhill mountain bike park on 235 acres of a 306-acre parcel owned by the State Land Board two miles up Shadow Mountain Drive. e proposal has faced backlash from neighbors and support from mountain bike enthusiasts. e day-use bike park with a chairlift would operate generally from March 1 to Nov. 30. Estimates show about

300 daily visitors to the park with a peak of 700. e parking lot will have spaces for 300 cars.

In April, Chuck Newby, an Elk Creek Fire Protection District board member, expressed concern about how the proposed bike park would not pay taxes to the re department despite his contention that calls would increase. He wanted Elk Creek to determine how much emergency services calls cost the district and to develop the mechanisms to o set EMS demands from the bike park, ensuring district taxpayers “would be held harmless.” His motion was voted down 4-1 with other board members saying it was premature because the proposal was in its rst referral phase with the county. e issue is expected to be revisited at the next Elk Creek Fire board meeting at 6 p.m. ursday, May 11, at Fire Station 1.

Determining possessory use taxes

Michael Krueger with the Colorado Department of Local A airs explained that the amount of possessory interest taxes the bike park would pay — assuming the development is approved by the county and the taxes are assessed — would be based on the amount of rent the developers pay to the State Land Board.

“ e (taxes are) based on the lease structure with the State Land Board,” Krueger said. “Typically, it’s not a lot of money.” e taxes would be determined by taking the total yearly lease payment, multiplying it by the assessed tax rate, which in Je co is 27.9%, to determine the amount the bike park developers would pay. en the total would be given proportionally to the taxing entities such as the county, school district and re district.

Kristin Kemp, spokeswoman for the State Land Board, said the bike park developers would not apply to the land board to lease the property until a determination has been made by Je erson County on whether the bike park will be al-

The lowed to operate.

“If the proposed project is approved and permitted at the county level through the county’s process, then the developers would need to apply for a production lease with the State Land Board through our public process,” Kemp said.

EMS calls

Newby said at the April 13 board meeting that a downhill bike park would mean accidents and injuries, and Elk Creek’s emergency responders would be overtaxed answering the additional calls. He said based on his research, Elk Creek’s EMS would respond to about 10 calls per week with the majority needing transportation to the hospital, which takes several hours and makes an ambulance and its crew unable to answer other emergency calls.

“ ere will not be EMS facilities provided onsite, so the burden falls to us,” Newby said. “ e bike park won’t pay any taxes (since it is on state-owned land) therefore Elk Creek taxpayers will take the burden. at is something we must do something about.”

Phil Bouchard, one of the Shadow Mountain Bike Park developers, refutes Newby’s claim that Elk Creek EMS would respond to 10 calls per week. Instead, he said, Elk Creek EMS would only be needed to transport seriously injured mountain bikers to a hospital because the bike park plans to provide on-site medical personnel that he called an EMS center to respond to incidents in the park. He plans to hire paramedics and/or emergency room nurses to work at the bike park.

“So many of the incidents we will be able to handle on our own,” Bouchard said. “It will potentially be a net decrease in the number of EMS calls.”

Riders frequent several area parks such as Flying J and Staunton, and when someone is injured, EMS personnel must hike in, bring the injured person to a safe location, administer medical attention and transport as necessary, Bouchard said. At Shadow Mountain Bike Park, the injured person already would be at the visitor center, so the time per incident if Elk Creek was called would shorten.

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