CHEYENNE — Scott Roybal refuses to give up.
The Cheyenne City Council member has pushed for money to open up the Belvoir Ranch near Cheyenne to recreation.
Up to now, he has been unsuccessful in convincing his colleagues of the huge potential of the 18,000 acre ranch as a great spot for local hikers and bicyclists as well as an economic generator.
Instead, a council majority has given priority to more immediate problems, like fixing potholes in the streets.
Apparently that is what happened to Belvoir’s potential share of the sixth-penny tax before the May 2017 election.
Belvoir had been included in the proposed list of beneficiaries to receive $2 million of the extra tax to be used for development.
But newly-elected Mayor Marian Orr and Council member Pete Laybourn succeeded in convincing a council majority to change the items that ultimately made the ballot that went to the voters, Roybal said in an interview last week. Belvoir was bumped off the list.
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That election, by the way, disclosed a schizophrenic trend among Cheyenne voters, who approved one recreation item — extensions of the popular Greenway— but rejected two others, including a new indoor gymnasium.
The failure to even get on the ballot in 2017 was a big disappointment for supporters of Belvoir recreation development.
Although the decision of the city council was far from visionary, it was understandable given the volume of complaints from irate drivers about the condition of Cheyenne streets.
Since 2008, city officials have had an extensive master plan for the Belvoir that included new walking and bike trails, a campground and picnic areas.
Eleven years later, the area remains inaccessible to the public.
Roybal said he intends to introduce a resolution to dedicate to recreation some of the revenue from the wind farm being developed on a portion of the ranch. He will do that during a council meeting in a few weeks.
“I intend to keep fighting for it,” he said.
The Belvoir ranch is a project whipped by change.
The city bought the ranch in 2003 for $5.9 million. Located 16 miles west of Cheyenne, the city initially wanted the property to expand the city’s water supply and for a possible landfill site.
The landfill option didn’t materialize when the officials decided to expand the existing landfill site on Happy Jack Road instead.
The demand for more city water eased with the imposition of conservation measures, including limits on residential use in the spring and summer. Moreover, the cost of installing a pipeline to move the water to Cheyenne was prohibitive.
These developments led to the city staff work on the Belvoir master plan.
The plan had and still has the support of a number of recreation and conservation groups, including Wyoming Pathways.
The city has been working on a contract with Next Era Energy, Inc. for a 30,000 acre wind operation on public and private land north of the Wyoming-Colorado border southwest of Cheyenne, including the Belvoir property.
The news of a wind farm on the property prompted Pathways to change direction somewhat.
In its web page, the organization issued an “Action Alert” to address the impact of the wind farm on the recreation plans for Belvior.
The Pathways report said something could still be saved from the Belvoir master plan.
“There is still an opportunity to preserve some of the stewardship, recreation and conservation vision for the property as outlined in the Master Plan,” the Pathways report said.
It repeated the vision of the master plan, in part:
“Belvoir Ranch is a unique and significant piece of Cheyenne’s rich cultural heritage and regional open space system.
“The ranch shall be managed as a community asset and legacy, balancing uses and resources in such a way as to sustain its unique landscape character and heritage, for generations to come.”
Pathways urged its members and partners to contact the Cheyenne mayor and city council members and ask them to require two main moves to help the maintain the vision of the master plan:
- Relocate up to 11 windmills in the western and southwestern portion of the property to open a corridor for recreational access and reduce the impact on wildlife migration.
- Allocate at least half of the proceeds from the wind energy contract to improving recreation opportunities and conservation at Belvoir Ranch.
Joan Barron is a former longtime capitol bureau reporter. Contact her at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net.