Motorcycle and mountain bike riders defend the rights to their 45 year old park.
Click here to view the Concerns about the BCP Proposed Policy Changes (NEW 11/28/17)
Click here to see article in 1993 Austin Chronicle from Mr Daryl Slusher
Click here to see 2007 Policy supporting Grandfathered Tracts
Click here to read the Full Report of our case
Dear Friends,
As you likely know, for 3 1/2 years, our motorcycle and mountain bike riders have endured a misleading campaign by the Managing Staff of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve (BCP) to close a large and better part of Emma Long Motorcycle Park. If nothing changes, we lose several of the best riding areas and leave the door open for more closures and, little by little, lose the Park.
The BCP’s justification for closing the trails and riding areas seems to change with the weather. Repeatedly, when we prove BCP’s justification for closing the park areas to be unfounded, BCP moves to yet another unsupported argument. Ultimately, BCP closed 18% of our park by citing the Austin Critical Water Quality Zone Ordinance (CWQZ). When we dug into the official map for the ordinance, we discovered that the map BCP was using to close our riding areas was misleading. The correct map shows that our trails barely overlap the CWQZ.
BCP management misrepresented the ordinance with our park and has also failed to close other parks – such as the Barton Greenbelt and Bull Creek Park – 89% of which lie in the CWQZ. Rather than rely on facts, BCP management is unfairly targeting one recreational group.
It is easy to shove aside the interests of motorcyclists and mountain-bikes riders. Yet our 45-year history demonstrates that we follow the rules, we maintain an exemplary park, and we successfully coexist with the Golden-Cheeked Warbler. The BCP’s intense focus on our park use is both disproportionate and unwarranted.
Since 2012, the BCP has been dead set on removing us from Emma Long Park by dubious means. We, the stakeholders at Emma Long Motorcycle Park, find ourselves the victims of smokescreens, misdirection and bureaucratic backtracking by the management of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
Our biggest frustration is that after our outcry about BCP staff manipulating ordinances and making false accusations, some elected officials still only listen to the BCP staff and refuse to verify our points. It is a slippery slope if City Officials overlook this entitled attitude by City Staff to fabricate the facts. We are asking for a fair non-discriminatory review of the facts by an impartial, independent board.
Please use the links above to contact City Officials and also download our brochures with in-depth material.
Thank You,
Tomas Pantin
KeepParkOpen@gmail.com
For more information contact:
Tomas Pantin
KeepParkOpen@gmail.com
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