Hughes Legislative Intent and Current Misinformation from Lobbying Groups
There has been a lot of disinformation-style messaging coming from lobbying groups trying to twist the legislative intent of the Hughes ballot measure. The bike park lobby has even gone so far to fling vitriol about PATHS being anti-recreation, which is about as ridiculous as it gets.
So, here’s the gist of our position about Hughes and the legislative intent of the conservation-focused citizen initiative, so others can’t continue to flood public venues and social media with misinformation.
The intent of the ballot measure, and what voters understood that they were voting for, was to CONSERVE Hughes as PROTECTED open space or a Natural Area with a the possibility of a 5-acre wildlife center, with LOW-impact recreation.
Yes, we DO know this because we actually did the work and spoke with voters and residents of varying opinions and perspectives!
A wildlife center did not mean a 75-acre “wildlife and nature CAMPUS” development with a (1) large, busy visitor center, (2) zoo-like animal enclosures, administrative offices, paved parking lot, sidewalks, night lighting, and traffic. That is way more development than what voters wanted there.
The intent also didn’t include that 75-acres of Hughes land would be swapped or sold, to be owned by a wildlife center, as has been floated by those proposing this use now.
Recreation was meant to be LOW-IMPACT and LOW-MAINTENANCE, like the recreational uses that exist there NOW.
Those low-intensity recreational uses DO align with conservation, similar to the conserved and contiguous Natural Areas Maxwell and Pineridge. It’s that simple.
The legislative intent of the Recreation did NOT mean a “large-scale 60-80 acre recreation-destination bike park” attraction or intersecting and zig-zagging trails all over the site. Those high-intensity uses would NOT align with conservation.
It was understood, according to the legislative intent, that the City would ZONE and ACQUIRE Hughes, and hold the land in public trust for all the citizens of the community. Hughes would truly publicly-owned and operated open space or Natural Area, with low impact recreation.
The City leaders failed to do this for the residents and voters of Fort Collins. This is one key reason that the public is in the increasingly divisive state of discourse that it is in now.
We (PATHS) are the organization that had the vision to prevent Hughes from being being turned into a subdivision. And it was our hard work, time, money, canvassing, signature gathering and testifying that allowed Hughes to be acquired for the stated legislative intent. The literal petition and election campaign motto was “Keep Hughes Open Space”.
Despite the bullying and misinformation coming from other groups, we will not be sidelined, ignored, or frozen out of any discussion about the use of the property.
It’s sad that the two proposed high-intensity uses at Hughes that do NOT align with the legislative intent of the Hughes initiative have created division in the community.
Many cyclists and wildlife advocates that voted for Hughes Open Space do NOT support the two high-intensity uses that are proposed there.
Regardless, we stand ready to do whatever we can to protect the will of the majority of voters, and make sure Hughes remains conserved, publicly-owned and maintained land with low-impact recreation.
