LONGMONT, COLORADO - City firefighters and parks workers on Monday burned and trimmed underbrush and branches at a Longmont park that residents and police say has become a gathering spot for “casual encounters” between gay and bisexual men.While there is no conclusive evidence that Jim Hamm Nature Area is actually being frequented by men seeking casual sex, residents of the new Sundance neighborhood at 17th Avenue and County Line Road — next to the park — have been complaining that’s exactly what’s going on.
Several gay-oriented Internet message boards and Web sites refer to the park in the same context as adult bookstores and bathhouses. They give directions and recount “encounters” at the park.
Last week, several paths strewn with tissues and condom wrappers wound through a brushy area posted as off-limits for wildlife habitat protection.
And two weeks ago, a local man who asked not to be identified said he was propositioned at the park on a Sunday morning by a stranger who offered to perform a sex act on him.
“A guy popped up out of nowhere and tried to get in my car,” the man said. “I was pretty shook up.”
The man contacted the Daily Times-Call about the incident.
There don’t appear to be any records of anyone ever receiving a ticket or being arrested for lewd acts in Jim Hamm Nature Area. But local police officers say they have heard similar stories and complaints since the 1980s.
The park was initially given to Longmont in 1974, even though it was far outside city limits. As a result of its isolation, police didn’t patrol there much, but at some point over the next several years, officers started hearing sporadic reports of men using the park for liaisons, according to Sgt. Doug Ross, the police beat supervisor for the area that includes the park.
Ross and other officers said the situation has become more of a priority with increased use of the park by people moving into the upscale, family-oriented Sundance neighborhood on the northwest side of the park.
“People are seeing lewd acts going on at the park. There has been a problem ... as the park usage has grown,” Ross said. “Everyone has the right to use the park. But when illegal activities of any type occur, it becomes a problem.”
If someone is caught having consensual sex in the park, Longmont Police Cmdr. Craig Earhart said, they would likely face public indecency or indecent exposure charges, both misdemeanors.
The number of complaints to the city has reached a point that officials decided something had to be done. They stress that their decision to tighten up enforcement at the park is coming at the request of residents and say they would act similarly if men and women were having public sex in the area.
“The police called us and said, ‘Can you do something?’” said Dan Wolford, the city’s open space and trails superintendent.
Wolford’s solution was to burn off the reeds, brush and tall grass in the area. That will improve wildlife habitat by reducing cattails and allowing other plants an opportunity to grow. It also will improve visibility by decreasing the number of hidden areas in the park.
A similar, smaller effort to address neighborhood concerns by trimming overgrown vegetation in late 2004 resulted in online complaints being posted on gay-oriented message boards.
“All branches have been cut from the bottom of the trees,” said one early 2005 posting on a Web site aimed at facilitating sexual encounters. “Cops are in the parking lot and driving cars down the paths.”
Multiple postings by the Daily Times-Call seeking comment on that and other message boards received only one response, from a man who said he used to live in Longmont and was familiar with the area.
Several area residents said they are aware of the park’s reputation. All said they had heard stories about neighbors encountering men engaged in sexual activity in the bushes, but none had first-hand knowledge. None were willing to be quoted by name or even anonymously.
However, Ross said area residents have been contacting the police department in increasing numbers, and safety officials decided to act to lower the potential for encounters.
“We’re changing the environment to make the area more safe while also making it more attractive,” Ross said.
from Longmont Daily Times
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