Mountain may be opened to all

After years of negotiations, a tentative agreement has been reached to make Colorado Springs’ second-most-famous mountain into a park.

Cheyenne Mountain, the jagged, antenna-topped, 9,564-foot peak that looms over the city’s southwest horizon, has long been privately owned and closed to the public. Cheyenne Mountain State Park, which opened last year, includes only the bottom slopes.

Officials have come up with a plan to buy property and are well into negotiations with owners. They hope to have the entire mountain purchased by 2009, city and state officials told the Colorado Springs Trails, Open Space and Parks Working Committee on Wednesday. The state park would be expanded to include its namesake mountain.

“We do have the funding available right now, and we do intend to start the purchase,” Mike French, regional director of Colorado State Parks, told committee members.

Under the arrangement announced Wednesday, the state would buy the largest property, a 315-acre parcel at the top of the mountain that includes meadows and overlooks, from Cheyenne Mountain Reserve LLC, a group of three property owners.

The city, through the 0.1-percent Trails, Open Space and Parks tax, would buy at least 580 acres from several property owners this year and next. Another portion would be leased until being bought in 2009.

Neither French nor city officials would discuss dollar figures, though the city has about $3 million available for purchases, said Chris Lieber, TOPS manager.

“We are still negotiating,” Lieber said. “They all want to sell, but we all need to get to the point where we’re comfortable with what that means.”

The Colorado State Parks Board will meet June 15 to discuss it, and the TOPS purchase would need City Council approval. The TOPS working committee will discuss it further at its June 20 meeting.

It wouldn’t be the first such deal. TOPS funds were used to buy a large swath of land to create Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

The purchase, long a priority for the city, was delayed for several years while the city battled anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce over the legality of the TOPS tax. The state Supreme Court sided with the city in that fight last year.

If the sales go through, the state park would build a 2½ mile trail to the summit of Cheyenne Mountain and install a dozen fee-based campsites in meadows at the top, along with a restroom and maintenance shed, French said. They would be “primitive” sites, meaning walk-in only, with no electric hookups.

He said there are no plans for cabins or other buildings or a road to the top. The antenna farm would remain offlimits and not be included in the park.

Visitors who park at the bottom would have to pay a $5 fee. Officials said those who walk to the top from Old Stage Road would not have to pay a fee.

While officials emphasized the tentative nature of the deal, they are moving fast to finalize it, because the land might not be available much longer.

The top of the mountain, including the largest parcels, will be put up for sale to developers interested in large plots if a deal isn’t reached by Aug. 31, said P.J. Anderson, one of three owners.

Two of the owners are grandchildren of the man who built a homestead on the mountain in the early 20th century, and they have long wanted to see it preserved as a park. But with a bank loan coming due, they would have no choice but to sell it for development, Anderson said.

He said there has been interest by private developers who want to build large “compounds” on the mountain.

Until recently, the state wasn’t interested in buying the peak, putting its money, instead, toward a lodge in the state park and other facilities to generate revenue.

Anderson would not comment on the purchase price under discussion. Previously, the owners had been seeking about $3 million, plus $3 million in tax credits.

Though nothing has been signed, Anderson said the mountain is closer than ever to being a park.

“We’ve thought for eight years that Cheyenne Mountain State Park should have Cheyenne Mountain in the park,” Anderson said. “I’m finally optimistic. I think we’re working towards getting this done by August.”

Officials could not say when Cheyenne Mountain would be open to the public. The section owned by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) — separated by a fence — would remain off-limits.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-1605 or scott.rappold@gazette.com

HOW TO HEAR MORE

Both city and state governments must approve a proposal to buy land at the top of Cheyenne Mountain to make it part of Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

The Colorado State Parks Board will meet Friday June 15 to discuss the proposal. The public meeting will be at 4255 Sinton Road in Colorado Springs at 9 a.m.

The Colorado Springs Trails, Open Space and Parks Working Committee will discuss the city’s purchase of property at its next public meeting, on Wednesday June 20. The meeting is at 4 p.m. at 1401 Recreation Way.

The committee will make a recommendation to the city’s parks and recreation board, which will then make a recommendation to the City Council.