Community members showed up to Thursday’s Park City Council meeting to speak on a topic of personal importance to them and many in the community who utilize Park City’s trail system: whether electric mountain bikes should be allowed on single-track trails.
The update to the Park City Council on e-bike policy was only slated for 30 minutes of discussion, but input from the public drew it out to more than an hour. Park City has a local ordinance prohibiting e-bikes on unpaved trails, except for use by those with mobility disabilities. Park City Trails Manager Heinrich Deters says the city has received many comments in recent months from people with disabilities who have requested a permit or other identification to place on their bikes, to prevent undue criticism from other trail users. Staff has also received inquiries from people who don’t have a disability, but for other reasons don’t have the strength or ability to ride a regular mountain bike on the trails; and from local bike shops that carry electric mountain bikes.
The public input session kicked off with comments from recent Park City transplant Dennis Freeder, a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran with a disability. Freeder says he used to be an avid mountain biker until he underwent surgery 15 years ago.
“Now with the advent of pedal-assist electric bikes, I'm able to ride again, and I would hope that there would be some sort of exception for people like myself to be able to enjoy the lands that I'm paying large taxes to support," Freeder said. "Anybody that tells me that an e-bike destroys the trails has never really ridden one. They help you get up—you can't go back faster downhill. If anything, there's a governor on them that keeps the speed down.”
Andre Shoumatoff owns Park City Bike Demos. He says 40 to 50% of the shop’s sales come from e-bikes, and when European visitors rent them, they don’t understand why they can’t use them on the trails. Shoumatoff says the e-bike is just the latest disruption to the outdoor recreation industry that the community should embrace.
“I think we need to kind of get over it," Shoumatoff said. "We need to recognize that just because it has this small motor, that it is just the next evolution. It's the next 27.5; it's the next 29. And yes, it's going to cause problems, just like when we put in a ski lift. Just like when snowboarding came in, and it is, quoting Rob Katz, CEO of Vail, he says it's the best thing that ever happened to the ski industry.”
On the other side of the issue, former bike racer and longtime Park City resident Dennis McCormick says he helped build Park City’s trails in the mid-1980s, before Mountain Trails Foundation started. McCormick says the trails were not intended to be used by motorized vehicles, and the council shouldn’t give in to business interests.
“You were elected by the people of Park City—you weren't elected by the business people of Park City, and I really hope that you will take it upon yourself to represent the people, not the businesses," McCormick said. "I've seen these businesses come and go, year after year, and they'll move someplace else and destroy the next town they move to.”
The council directed Deters to move forward with a survey gauging community sentiment around e-bikes on single-track trails, though Councilmember Nann Worel requested that it differentiate between respondents who live within Park City boundaries and visitors. They also expressed interest in a permit system for people with disabilities and people over a certain age as well as a pilot program testing e-bikes on trails where the bikes could be supported.
A 2018 survey from the Mountain Trails Foundation indicates that nearly 80% of more than 1,200 respondents oppose allowing e-bikes on trails.
