By Bennito L. Kelty | Westword
After four decades of buying enormous tracts of land west of Arvada, Jefferson County is considering new hiking trails in an unblemished area less than thirty miles from downtown Denver. Property owners in the private community located right next to the proposed trailhead aren’t keen on the idea, however.
“I’m not afraid to say not in my backyard. They’re talking about endangering myself and my family,” says Steve Bisque, the president of the Blue Mountain Land & Homeowners Association and a member of the family that developed the neighborhood.
At some point during the next four years, the county could install a trailhead and a parking lot at 9775 Blue Mountain Road, Arvada, which is just a stone’s throw from the entrance to Blue Mountain Estates and its million-dollar homes. Fast drivers coming off State Highway 72, the disturbance of elk migration patterns and visitors overfilling the small neighborhood are among the reasons Bisque says he and his neighbors oppose Jefferson County’s plans.