Dear Highland's Ranch,
A recent visitor to this site asked us why we are not talking with other members of the local community, specifically, Highlands Ranch residents.
So, now is your chance to let us know what you think about your HOA's private trail system policy.
Please click on the Comments link below.
Or Email Us
A resident asked me the following questions. Please read below each for Douglas County's response.
1) How come Shea homes is deeding all of this land to the association, and not the metro disctricts that manages all of the other parks and trails throughout Highlands Ranch?
The deeding of land to an HOA or Metro District is a very common practice. In the case of Highlands Ranch there was land that was dedicated to both during the development process.
2) How can the county not know that the intention of the Highlands Ranch Association was to make this trail private, when they were planning out this trail and approving it?
First the County does not approve the development of trails that are constructed on private land. When we were informed that the trails were to be private we did express our concerns.
3) What is this 25 year old agreement between Highlands Ranch and the county? I would like more details of this agreement, and what exactly 'preferred' use of the land means.
[UPDATE] Douglas County Attorney are researching the meaning "Preferred".
Dear Mark & The Residents of Highlands Ranch.
I have been collecting feedback from people who have been banned from
using the Wild Cat Trail System. I hope this feedback will give you
some idea of the depth of that feeling.
I would like to point out that while most of the feedback has been
negative, it has also been somewhat conciliatory.
Is there nothing we can work out here?
Regards
Ben Lockett
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Parks & trails & Open Space need to be available to anyone who wants to
use them! If Highlands Ranch wants the County, and CPN to contribute $
for maintenance, fine. But what a
bad precedent to set.
As a Castle Pines North resident who lives right by the trail and all of
this 'closed' space, this completely sucks.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I was extremely shocked when I had found out the trail is private, and
for only Highlands Ranch residents. It seems like a slap in the face,
when I can walk to this trail from my house, but we're not allowed on
it. My question is here
anything that can be done about this? If it is private land, we can't
make them open it to the public.
Also, is there any way to put pressure on Shea homes? there is still
alot of open space around there that is still under Shea homes, but is
planned to be given to HRCA. Maybe at least we can keep the rest from
joining the same fate as this one trail. Plus, it would really depress
me if I was completely surrounded by all of this beautiful open space
that I would not be allowed to enjoy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I would like to add my voice to the displeased residents of CPN over the
denial of use of trails by Highland Ranch officials (If they are indeed
officials of Highlands Ranch and not some self anointed group.) I have
read in the Castle Pine news letter about the upcoming opening of
previously closed open space. I watched as the parking lot opened and
thought how fortunate I was to live in Douglas County with all these
hiking and biking opportunities.
Last weekend I took my family down to walk the new trail and found a
sign on the gate stating that this trail was off limits to anyone
outside of Highlands Ranch.
Sadly I had to explain to my children that we could not walk on the
trail. This lead to a discussion of elitism and how open space should be
OPEN to all Coloradans.
Please allow all people of Colorado to freely walk in and use all open
spaces. We should be neighbors not enemies.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thanks for moving on this....truly unbelievable!
Hopefully south suburban won't adopt this view and keep us from running
the Highline.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I wanted to go for a walk on the Wild Cat Trail today. However, when I got there I found a Highland's Ranch representative guarding the gate onto the trail.
Please bear in mind that it was 90 degrees today and the gentlemen in the photo was sitting in his truck with no shade. Turns out he is an employee of Highlands Ranch (ie this guard service is costing Highlands Ranch citizens money) and he was there for 2 hours, to hand over to a replacement at the end of his shift.
He told me that unless I was a Highlands Ranch resident, I could not enter and then got out his truck to point out the no trespass sign.
I asked him what he would do if I walked onto the trail and he told me he would "call the cops".
This is CRAZY!
This issue made it onto both 7News and The Denver Post. The Denver Post article is excellent and frames the situation very well.
Highlands Ranch - If Ben Lockett strolls down his street in the Castle Pines North subdivision and onto the Wildcat Mountain Trail, he would be walking on the wrong side of the law.
Neighboring Highlands Ranch owns the newest trail system to spill from the region's homes and shopping centers into the unspoiled foothills, lush with scenic vistas, deer, elk, bear, snakes and fowl.
When it opened earlier this month, Gary Debus, the manager of Highlands Ranch Community Association, invited National Geographic to take a picture.
But without an invitation from a dues-paying member of the Highlands Ranch Community Association, the Wildcat Mountain Trail is off-limits.
Meanwhile, Douglas County soon will start work on a 4-mile public trail that would intersect with the 5-mile private network, cumulatively called the Wildcat Mountain Trail.
The county expected the two trails to complement each other, said Ron Benson, Douglas County's director of parks and trails.
Designating the Wildcat Trail private was a curve Benson didn't see coming.
"We wanted to open both trails at the same time," he said. "They didn't want to do that. I see why now: They wanted theirs to be private."
A 25-year-old agreement with the county gives Highlands Ranch residents "preferred" use of the land, and the community association interprets that to mean "exclusive" use, Benson said.
"I already made it known to them that I have some doubts about their legal interpretation," he said, adding that a county attorney is looking into the matter.
No-trespassing signs ward off non-Highlands Ranchers from the Wildcat Mountain Trail.
The Highlands Ranch Community Association has told hikers to keep their membership cards handy because volunteers will be patrolling for trespassers.
Lockett believes trails, like nature, are a common good and should be free to all. "It seems to be against the Colorado way of life, the life we all live here for."
Debus said the public will have use of the county's public trails, while his members can enjoy the association's private trail.
"We want to make sure our members have a quality experience," he said. "But we also want to make sure the wildlife and habitat are impacted as little as possible."
The Wildcat Trail winds through parts of the 8,200 acres donated by Shea Homes, the builder of Highlands Ranch.
Shea deeded the property to the Highlands Ranch Community Association, an umbrella organization of homeowner associations, which built the trail for $86,000.
Members' exclusive use of trails is no different than their use of the association's pools or recreation centers, Debus said.
Most of the trails and parks in Highlands Ranch are public, however. The reason: Highlands Ranch Metro Districts, like towns and counties, collect and spend tax money, making its parks open to the public.
Homeowners associations, however, are funded by dues, and their holdings are reserved for members.
The spat over the public use of private trails has simmered locally and nationally for years. Ken-Caryl Ranch, for instance, incurred a flap a decade ago for its residents-only policy for a privately owned network of trails in Jefferson County.
Chris Pacetti, executive director of Ken Caryl's master association, said Monday that it's a simple question of ownership.
"Why is your living room not open to the public?" he said.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
In England 1% of the population owns 66% of the land. The result of this social imbalance is that the No Trespass sign is seen more often than not when you are trying to enjoy the pleasures of the countryside.
Coming from this restrictive environment to live in Colorado in 1996 I thought I had landed in paradise. On my doorstep were mountains where I could ski, hike and mountain bike. Rivers where I could enjoy my passion for fly fishing and take my kids for picnics. It is an outdoor enthusiasts dream.
To add to this dream my family moved to the southern Denver suburbs in 1999. 15 miles from the Tech Centre but surrounded by open space. Up to this point we have been able to enjoy the many outdoor amenities that this area provides. I say up to this point because this week I saw something that I would never seen in this Great State. Private Trail Systems.
The Highland's Ranch Community Association (HRCA) has created one of the most beautiful trail systems on the Front Range and decided to make it private. Anyone using this trail system, so the signs say, must be in possession of their HRCA ID card. Otherwise it is considered trespass.
Wildcat Mountain Trail System is not the only private trail system the HRCA have created. If you read the trail map also indicates another that sits north of the East/West trail.
There are many reasons why I think this is wrong:
Thank you for your comments regarding the Backcountry Wilderness Area of Highlands Ranch. The HRCA is a private non-profit corporation and its common area property is for the benefit of its members, just like the recreation centers. These common area properties are paid for 100% by member assessments and not taxes. Really no different from the private pools in Castle Pines, private clubhouses in other communities, private trails in Ken Caryl, and private lakes in many communities around Colorado.
Parks, trails, and public areas should be open to the public who fund those trails. For example, there is a tax in Douglas County which funds open space properties in Douglas County. Those properties are open to the public. Trails within Highlands Ranch, operated by the Metro Districts, a governmental entity, are open to the public. In this case however, the trails are open to the HRCA members who fund the trails. However, the cost component is not the only concern. We also want to make sure that the trails aren't used more heavily than they and the land can support while we manage the trails and the land to make sure the habitat remains healthy to sustain the wildlife in the area.
Just received an email from the CPN Master Association:
Please attend this meeting if you can.
Residents may have noticed a new parking area on Monarch
Boulevard just north of Daniel’s Gate in the open space
area. This area is part of the Highlands Ranch backcountry
wilderness trail system.
It has been recently reported that Highlands Ranch officials
are denying access to this trail system to anyone who is not
a resident of Highlands Ranch.
The CPN Metro District and the CPN Master Association have
joined together to discuss this issue with Douglas County
and Highlands Ranch.
Ron Benson, Director of Parks and Trails for Douglas County,
will speak to concerned CPN residents at the monthly Metro
District Board meeting on Monday, August 21, at 7 p.m. at
the CPN Community Center, 7404 Yorkshire Drive.
All CPN residents are encouraged to attend and express
opinions regarding this issue. Those who cannot attend
the meeting are encouraged to send concerns to
editor@cpnhoa.org. All comments will be shared with
Douglas County.
I did a Google Search for "Wildcat Mountain Trail" and saw a Yourhub.com article about the opening of the trail system
I read some interesting facts about the way the HRCA intends to police the trail system.
"The Wildcat Mountain Trail System is only open to members of the Highlands Ranch Community Association -- about 95 percent of Highlands Ranch residents. Geibel said residents should have their HRCA recreation center cards handy when out on the trails.
Giebel said HRCA has about 50 volunteers that will patrol the trail system, which is open from sunrise to sunset.
"They'll be out on the trails helping to educate trail users on the rules and regulations and enforce them," Giebel said."
