Columnist: County plans 800-acre park for 2-wheel enthusiasts

Dirt-bike riders, kick-start your engines.

County leaders late this week signed off on the latest — and most unusual — park in the region: a mecca for two-wheel enthusiasts.

If all goes as planned, by late fall next year, dirt riders will be throwing up rooster tails on more than 20 miles of trails on 800 acres of terrain around the existing Aztec Family Raceway on Colorado Highway 94, about 4½ miles east of U.S. Highway 24.

The raceway now has two full-size and one pee-wee motocross track. Those would stay, but an extensive trail system for more recreational riders would be added, probably with a separate area for riders of ATVs. There’s even talk of adding bicycle trails.

The park, estimated to cost $1.1 million, would be financed by dedicated park fees paid by developers, a combination of state grants and some private fundraising. It would be run by the owner of the Aztec Raceway, Byron Wolf. A portion of the fees paid by riders would come back to county coffers, said parks director Tim Wolken. No general fund money would be used on the project.

The public-private partnership would provide something sorely lacking in El Paso County: a place for dirtbike riders to play, said Wolf and county Commissioner Jim Bensberg, an avid motorcyclist.

Bensberg helped develop the plan for the park, which won the commissioners’ approval Thursday on a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Douglas Bruce objecting.

With that approval, county parks can now apply for a $20,000 conservation trust grant funded by Colorado Lottery proceeds and a $320,000 grant from Colorado State Trails. The larger grant would come from fees off-road riders pay to register their vehicles.

The county also would use $275,000 in developer fees to finance the park.

The biggest expense would be the estimated $750,000 needed to purchase 800-plus acres of land now owned by the Case family, longtime developers.

Bruce was skeptical about the proposed sale price, because the acreage is now classified as agricultural land and assessed at a market value of $10,340. Under the deal, the seller would choose the appraiser to value the land.

Bruce said that smells like letting the fox into the henhouse and doubted the land could be worth threequarters of a million dollars.

That earned a retort from fellow Commissioner Sallie Clark, who said one of Bruce’s properties has an assessed market value of about $13,000. She offered to write Bruce a check immediately if he would sell it to her for that. Bruce didn’t respond.

Clark was alluding to the disparity between the assessor’s market value and the true value of a piece of land, which is often determined by what use is planned for it and how much someone is willing pay for it.

County Attorney Bill Lewis said the contract for the land includes a disclaimer that either buyer or seller can drop out if the appraisal price is unacceptable to them.

Wolken said the county will submit the grant request Monday, make a presentation to the state in February and have a decision probably by spring.

Tell me your commuter tales: 636-0197 or bill.mckeown@gazette.com