Action Alert:
I received this message from a fellow mountain biker who had attended the Foothills open houses and felt he wasn’t being heard. Apparently, Fort Collins Natural Areas doesn’t believe that more trails are the answer despite being told repeatedly that that is what the community wants. Please read his comments and suggestions below and take action!
To everyone who attended the Foothills open houses, provided feedback online and otherwise, kudos to you for participating in this important public process! Natural Areas indicated they have never had a plan like this in terms of community participation…not even close. However, despite this fact, they believe they are just hearing one loud voice and not a representative sample of our community, since 90% of those who provided feedback noted that they wanted to see more trails. How does that make you feel? Like your voice is being heard or discounted? How about the few specific options presented during this process? Would you have expected to be able to provide initial input that city staff would have used to come up with any potential options? Well, here are some ways to provide your thoughts around these themes: 1) contact your City Council Member directly (phone, email, or ideally an in-person meeting-that’s what they’re here for!), 2) Attend ANY City Council meeting and make your thoughts known during the public comment portion near the beginning of the meeting, 3) Email cityleaders@fcgov.com which includes all Council Members and Staff Leadership. Doing none of the above, however, may ultimately result in an outcome that you do not prefer as a resident of our great and involved community…so go get ’em!
The other parallel opportunity and call-to-action is participating in the Hughes Redevelopment Ideas framework. i.e. 1) LIKE everything related to more trails, more open space, etc. to ensure despite the city/developer direction that this remains known, 2) ADD more where they are missing. An account is required. Super easy.
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