Neighbors turned out for and against a bike-skills park. Here’s what Boise decided

Neighbors critical of a plan to build a bike park in Boise’s Military Reserve complained for months that they didn’t get a chance to voice concerns and objections to the project.

They’ll get that chance next month. The Boise City Council voted Tuesday to deny opponents’ appeal of a city board’s approval of the park but to the send the proposal to the city Parks and Recreation Commission for inclusion in the city’s parks master plan. The public will be allowed to comment at the commission’s Nov. 15 meeting.

More than 100 people packed the council chambers for an appeals hearing on two permits for the park issued by the Parks Department. Those who testified were split between supporters and opponents. Some voiced support for the park but said they were upset that people who wanted to voice concerns couldn’t.

Mayor Dave Bieter repeatedly told speakers they had to limit their comments to the issuance of the two permits, required under the city’s development code, one because the land is on a hillside, the other because it is in a floodplain. The city limits testimony at public hearings on appeals like this one to the issues directly involved with the permits.

Opponents got in what they wanted to say anyway.

“There was no public engagement for this project,” Brittney Scigliano, president of the East End Neighborhood Association, told the council before Bieter cut her off for failing to address the points of the appeal.

“We’re off to a bad start,” Bieter said.

Scigliano said the neighborhood association does not oppose the bike park but feels the permit approval process was flawed.

Several mountain bike enthusiasts told the council the bike park would be a welcome addition to Military Reserve.

“This area now is not very well utilized,” said Douglas Tobin, who provides endurance training for cyclists and runners and said he spends considerable time in Military Reserve during the summer. “These permits will allow renovation of this area.”

The Albertson Family Foundation offered to build the mountain bike skills park on seven acres now used as an off-leash dog area in the Military Reserve, which is already city parkland. The bike park would feature pump tracks, rollers and other features to help cyclists of all skill levels and ages develop and improve their skills. Some neighbors said they were frustrated that the city kept the foundation’s donation a secret until the council voted to accept it.

The city also plans to build a new dog park on a 3.7-acre basin west of the bike park site.

Among concerns opponents raised are increased traffic, a lack of parking, and worries that the bike park could be washed away if there was flooding. The park will occupy one of several flood catch basins at Military Reserve.

The two permits are required under the city’s development code, one because the land is on a hillside, the other because it is in a floodplain.

Normally, the council also restricts testimony on appeals of Planning and Zoning Commission rulings to people who had signed up to testify previously before P&Z. For Tuesday’s hearing, the council decided to let anyone testify.

Bieter first allowed the speakers to voice their frustrations before prodding them to speak to the issuance of the permits. One man ignored Bieter even when the mayor banged his gavel but left the podium when a police officer began walking his way.

Bruce Bistline, a Boise lawyer who represents three groups opposed to the park, argued that Parks and Recreation staff members lacked legal authority to approve the park plan and to file for the needed permits. Jennifer Tomlinson, a parks superintendent, said that wasn’t true.

Jason Taylor, a city engineer, said the biggest threat of flooding in the area could come if there was a catastrophic fire in the Foothills and the soil became compacted to a point water wouldn’t soak in. The catch basins are designed to corral any runoff.

Councilwoman Elaine Clegg said there was “substantial evidence” that the flood basins would not be compromised.

In July, the Planning and Zoning Commission denied an appeal that sought to reverse the planning staff’s approval of permits for the bike park. The commission said it could not find any legal errors in the staff’s decision, a conclusion also reached by the city council.

Bistline, a Democrat running for Idaho attorney general, said the proposal should have gone before the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission. That, he said, would have given the public a chance to weigh in on the plan and seek modifications.

The council imposed two conditions on the project: No other developments can be built in the Military Reserve for a length of time to be determined later, and no special events can take place at the park until the city can determine how they would affect the neighborhood.

Council President Lauren McLean suggested the council discuss changing the process so that neighbor concerns could be raised before a similar parks project involving a donation reaches the council or parks commission. Other council members said they supported that idea.

With the appeal denial, the Parks Department will draw up a revised donation agreement and a bill of sale for the park improvements with the Albertsons Foundation. The documents will go before the Parks and Recreation Commission at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 18. Assuming the commission approves, the agreements will come before the City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

This story was originally published October 16, 2018 at 11:37 PM.