Moving mountains (again)

You might recall our relocating a huge pile of dirt at The Fix jumps to satisfy the city of Boulder. That was a heck of a project, and — guess what — we get to do it again.


The volunteer who took charge of the first move claimed our roll-in mound had to be 55 feet from the center of the road. When we started moving dirt a few of us asked, are you sure this is the right place? Yeah, yeah.

So we poured 120 sweaty, grunty, blistery people-hours into picking and shoveling and wheelbarrowing 70 yards (175,000 pounds) of dirt and rocks. The finished pile looked sweet, and all was good.


Until a letter arrived from the city: Under the accessory use rules, the property line starts 40 feet from the center of the road, and all use must be 55 feet from the property line. So we’re talking 95 feet, not 55 feet.

Geez. And there’s a new a stipulation: No riding of any kind within 95 feet of the center of the road. That eliminates some sweet berms and jumps, and it just plain eats up space. www.useless-land.com

So it’s time to redesign and re-dig. The city said, “If you meet these requirements, you’ll be in full compliance, and the case will be closed.”

Yeah, yeah.

8 replies
  1. leelikesbikes says:

    Good call. The city wants one, but they’re expensive and the land owner says no way. Actually he’s been a huge supporter of our entire effort; he’s helping us partly to defy the city.

  2. Kevin says:

    when is this even further relocation of stuff going to take place? if i am in town i would be glad to pitch a hand in to help out.

    or if you want i could maybe see about some old mob ties i might call upon to have “the trouble taken care of” wink wink

  3. leelikesbikes says:

    Hey Kevin. I think it’ll be going down this week sometime. At least this time we’ll have a Bobcat. I’ll post the info. Thanks! — Lee

  4. Biscuit says:

    Lee,
    I’m sorry for what you guys are going through. I’m in the construction industry and have had to deal with this community / city relations BS many times. It’s extremely frustrating and time consuming. I would love to help, but I’m a little far away.

    I have two bits of advice:
    1) The people who work for the city are just that. PEOPLE. Just because one or two are vocal and actively working against you, doesn’t mean they all are. There are always a few who are just biting their tongues not wanting to get involved. (i.e. silent majority)

    Befriend a few of those people. Get on a first name basis, ask them if they have kids, let them know a little more about you (other than the fact that you ride bikes and make their lives difficult).

    2) If the letter you recieved actually reads: “If you meet these requirements, you’ll be in full compliance, and the case will be closed.” You have a decent argument against further BS. City officials are generally very leery of committing to anything. Especially in writing.

    Now, the city cannot change the use codes to make you compliant, but you can give the people you befriend in step #1 above one hell of a guilt trip and maybee get a favor.

    You also have a decent case for harrassment, and a strong legal letter in response to more BS could prove worthwhile (tread lightly though – don’t take on city hall). Whoever wrote this letter, could probably be grouped in step #1 above, and is just trying to appease the vocal minority.

    Good luck, and don’t let the man get you down. Unless that man is gravity.

    Scott

    oh, and get everything in writing.

  5. leelikesbikes says:

    Thanks Scott. Good advice, especially “get everything in writing.”

    Bill TeSelle was out there today with a Bobcat, and he moved that entire pile in about an hour. Thank goodness for equipment.

  6. Ian Roberts says:

    Hey great job!! I just though i would let you guys across the water (i live in the UK) know about a build we plan over here! Its a local job and we are removing all the old dirtjumps and the roll in moving it to the next field and then rebuilding it all. The dirt jumps are useless and the roll in is just bumpy and horible. The roll in is completely dirt and is about twice the size of yours. I will email you some pictures when we start work! Thought you might like to know!

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