In Montana City, just south of the Interstate 15 interchange, there is bulge of earth, 353 feet high, surrounded by open pasture and the occasional pine. For generations, locals have hiked and skied the modest summit, enjoying the panoramic views it offers of the surrounding hills.
For all that time, Rattlesnake Butte has been on private property. But that may soon change.
The land’s owner, Pamela Bompart, has offered to donate the 54 acres to Jefferson County. Her requirement: It must be held by the county in perpetuity — that is, it can’t be sold or otherwise transferred — and it must be open to all for recreation, preserving the de facto public space it has been for decades.
“It’s kind of an icon in this part of county,” Bompart told The Monitor. “Everyone has a grandfather or grandmother who has climbed it. It’s fundamentally already a park.” She says most people use the property without asking; she routinely gives permission to those who do ask.
The Jefferson County Commission is considering accepting Bompart’s donation under the terms of the state’s Open-Space Land and Voluntary Conservation Easement Act, which allows local governments, among others, to accept and use public funds to maintain land to be preserved as open space.
“It sounds really exciting to me,” said Chairman Cory Kirsch at the Commission’s Nov. 7 meeting. “The little bit of investment we’re putting in, to get a space like this in the north county for open space, it’s amazing.”
The Bompart land sits just west of I-15, bounded by Highway 282 and Virginia Road. Bompart said it has been in her family for about 150 years; it originally was part of a much bigger tract of ranchland that was divided by the highway. Today, Elkhorn Storage and other businesses operate in buildings to the north; an undeveloped parcel already owned by the county lies to the west.
Bompart has indicated she would like the transfer to happen by year-end, according to her representative, realtor Ken Vivrette. But county officials say there is no specific timeline, and that they are still investigating the costs that the donation would entail.
For one thing, the property must be surveyed. Clerk and Recorder Ginger Kunz said the county has received several estimates for that work, ranging from $3,800 to over $10,000. Title insurance could cost another $1000, according to County Attorney Steve Haddon.
The county also would take on expenses associated with ongoing maintenance. Bompart says those costs are minimal: “It hasn’t had that much care at all,” she said. But the county is researching whether the gravel Virginia Road will require improvements, now or later, and whether it could be liable for weed control.
Bompart’s proposal, as summarized in a document prepared by Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Chair Bret Lian, stipulates that the county must bear any expense associated with the transfer. Commissioner Bob Mullen was wary of that burden: “I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth,” he said. “But we’ll have to look at those [costs] and see if they’re reasonable or something we should share with Mrs. Bompart.”
For now, Haddon is reviewing a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would confirm the basic details of a transfer without yet committing the county to accept the donation.
If the deal goes through, it would create what is probably Jefferson’s largest county-owned recreation space. Mike Korn, a land use expert who sits on the Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission, believes that calls for a management plan. “Not a convoluted 25-page tome, probably just one page,” he said. “What do we have? What kind of activities are going to be permitted, and are there any restrictions? It’s really important to contemplate, and to think from scratch, here’s how we’re going to manage this land.”
Such a space could provide a template for other open-space acquisitions, especially as development accelerates in the county’s north and south ends.
That encroaching development, Bompart said, is what motivated her gift. “I’m sort of sad about the development around Montana City,” she said. Everything looks like storage units and fenced-in RVs. (She acknowledged that she herself owns a storage facility.
“It’s important for Montana City to honor the past. This could be a little reminder of what the place used to be like.”
