A board that advises the city on open space acquisitions voiced its displeasure Wednesday night over a proposed county park that would cater to off-road motorcyclists.

The Trails and Open Space Working Committee voted unanimously to ask the Colorado Springs City Council to intervene with the El Paso County Commission to halt the acquisition of land just north of Highway 94 for the unusual park.

The resolution calls on the county to hold public meetings to gather residents’ opinions.

The resolution was passed despite a recommendation by Chris Lieber, a city parks official, that the committee doesn’t have the authority to take a stand on county projects. Further, he said, the resolution could endanger the city’s relationship with county parks officials.

It’s unclear what impact the resolution will have once it is forwarded to the city’s parks advisory board and the City Council.

It certainly didn’t persuade County Commissioner Jim Bensberg that the county should

rethink the more than 900-acre motorcycle park, to be located in a portion of what is called Corral Bluffs.

Bensberg, an avid motorcyclist, has championed the proposal, saying more than 1,500 residents petitioned the commissioners to create the park.

Wednesday night, Bensberg said, “We fully intend to go forward with this.”

In early December, the commissioners approved the park concept and an application to Colorado State Parks for a grant to purchase about 500 acres owned by the Case family. The park also would comprise land leased from Waste Management, which operates a landfill adjacent to the proposed park on the east.

The park would be accessed through the existing Aztec Family Raceway, a motocross track. Aztec would operate the park, charge users a yet-to-be determined fee, assume the liability of the operation and pay a portion of the proceeds to the county.

The county envisions creating about 25 miles of singletrack trails on the property.

Bensberg said he understands concerns that motorcyclists could damage the dry prairie land. He said the county would hire a consultant to design the trails to minimize any environmental impact.

He also said the county, if it receives the state grant for the land purchase, would seek the opinions of residents on how to integrate the park into the surroundings, which he characterized as being dominated by landfills and auto salvage yards to the east.

Members of the TOPS committee have a different take on the value of the land. Some members said the land, particularly to the west, has distinct geographical features such as bluffs and arroyos that make it worth saving as open space.

They said the land could be part of a regional trail system emanating out of a proposed park in the Banning Lewis housing development, which lies west of Corral Bluffs.

Some members have expressed the feeling that the county, knowing the committee had for

several years eyed the Corral Bluffs as a potential open space area, quietly put a contract on the land to head off that effort.

Several adjacent property owners spoke at the meeting and said they were not informed of the proposed park, saying they first learned of it from a story in The Gazette.

Bob Solberg, who owns property just north of the proposed park site, said he often rode the land on horseback when he was a youth and found traces of Indian artifacts and saw a lot of wildlife that would be disturbed by motorcycles.

“I’d like to leave it as it is,” he said, adding that the county proposal “just jumped up on us.”

Bensberg conceded some landowners may not have been told of the proposed park. But he said the land has been identified as a potential park for years in county master plans, and a revision to that plan several years ago raised the possibility of motorized use.

“I never envisioned we’d be at loggerheads over such a small piece of ground on the eastern plains,” he said. “They have over 5,500 acres of open space on the foothills that motorized vehicles will never be allowed on.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0197 or bill.mckeown@gazette.com