Bellvue residents unite against campground

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Bellvue residents enjoying the quiet of Pleasant Valley can't figure out why the county parks department would want to build an RV campground in their neighborhood, especially when some landowners are trying to preserve the area's serenity with conservation easements.

Reasonable or not, they plan to fight the plan for a 36-unit campground north of Horsetooth Reservoir with everything they have. "We want to stop it in its infancy," said nearby resident James Carrion, who is organizing a petition drive and neighborhood meeting.

A meeting for volunteers is set for Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. at Vern's Place in LaPorte. Anyone wanting more information is invited to call Carrion at 472-1614 or e-mail jcarrion@mntview.com.

Campground opponents are also urging people to take their concerns to Larimer County Commissioner Tom Bender when he has his monthly citizens meeting at Vern's at 7 a.m. on Dec. 7.

Besides opposing the campground, Bellvue citizens are upset about the lack of public notice. The parks department launched the campground idea at an August meeting without sending notice to property owners who are most affected, they said.

"Subdividers have to notify everybody of their meetings and put a sign on their property, but the parks department didn't bother," said Roland Linder, another Bellvue resident.

Linder will soon have conservation easements on 400 acres of land in the area. Other neighbors are thinking of doing the same, he said, and altogether about a thousand acres could be protected from development in future years.

"They are spitting in our face with the campground," Linder said. "Let's leave something in this county untouched."

Doug Prince, who with his wife, Janette, owns Bellvue Poultry, said his biggest concern is traffic. Neither Bingham Hill Road nor County Road 23 could safely handle recreational vehicles enroute to the campground, he said. The roads, which also lead to Lory State Park, attract many bicyclists and runners, he added. Lory State Park is a day-use area with no camping.

In addition to its mandate of providing recreation, the county parks department sees a new campground as a way to bring in more revenue. Parks director Gary Buffington said it could generate $70,000 to $75,000 a year.

The 10-acre campground would be open seasonally from April through September and have a campground host onsite. Design plans call for a centralized water system and sewage system. Buffington noted that the Horsetooth Reservoir area has 125 camping sites, but most reservoirs that size have more than 200.

While Buffington is taking in all the complaints from Bellvue residents now, he's also on the receiving side of frequent comments from Commissioner Glenn Gibson that the parks department should be totally self-supporting. Fees now cover about 95 percent of the department's operating costs.

If the campground musters both county and federal approval, construction would start in late 2005 or early 2006, Buffington said. The estimated cost of $350,000 would be funded with lottery revenue and funds from the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the property, he said.

Meanwhile, the parks department first has to navigate a lengthy approval process, starting with the county planning department. A public project such as a campground needs to get planning commission approval of its location and extent of operations. A recent example of the process occurred when the Colorado Division of Wildlife asked the planning commission to support its plan to build an incinerator east of Wellington. Planning commissioners turned it down.

Since the campground would be located on federal land, the parks department would also have to conduct an environmental assessment to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, Buffington said.

Campground opponents already have a list of environmental impacts they think should thwart the plan: fire hazards, trash, more congestion at the north dam boat ramp, threats to wildlife and wetlands, impacts on existing water wells and light pollution, to name a few.

In addition, they say it makes no sense to place an RV park at the base of a dam given current homeland security concerns.

People wanting more information about the campground proposal may call Buffington at 679-4560. Buffington said he is also willing to consider other locations.