My husband and I have lived across the street from the bike jumps near Hartman Park for 18 years.

Occasionally, we’ve had concerns when riders took down trees or when kids were seriously injured, but for the most part we have embraced the jumps and the kids who ride there.

When final plans for the Redmond Bike Park were posted in June 2011, the neighbors were shocked.

The proposed plan is huge in comparison to the existing jumps. We have significant concerns about traffic and parking, as well as noise. Right now I can hear the voices of the riders from my back yard at least 100 yards away. These shouts blend in with the noises of our neighborhood and are rarely a nuisance. There are yells of encouragement and excitement, including expletives you would imagine any teenager might yell after successfully clearing a jump or maybe crashing.

The city’s plan will significantly increase the number of riders at the site, and it will now be much closer to homes. There is no doubt that the proposed plan WILL impact our quiet, residential neighborhood.

At the initial bike park meeting, the parks department said that the city might make the jumps an official park site. The city would oversee the site and teach the riders to build safer jumps. They would also educate riders about protecting the forest.

I expressed concern that the park might get bigger and was assured that wasn’t an option. There would not be enough funding and this would be a project built by volunteers.

When they asked for volunteers to help build the new, safer jumps, I volunteered my entire family. It’s ironic that I now find myself fighting something I have appreciated for so many years.

In March 2010, the Council voted to approve the jumps as an official park site. While approving the site, the council specifically instructed the parks department to address neighborhood concerns in the plans.

By increasing the size of the park by eight times, the planners have not addressed any of the concerns voiced by myself and other neighbors that evening or at subsequent planning meetings. In fact, they have increased my concerns significantly.

Following the posting, multiple requests were made to the parks department for a meeting to discuss the park, but our requests were not even acknowledged. We did not want to file an appeal. Many of us are parents with school-aged children and very busy schedules. There are so many other ways we’d rather spend our time, but we felt we had no choice. There was no other way to voice our concerns.

We are a group of reasonable, taxpaying citizens who will be greatly impacted by this park. Riders will come and go, but this is our home and we plan to be here for many years.

All we ask is that the city sit down with us and find a compromise that is closer to what they initially proposed three years ago and honor the City Council’s directive to consider our concerns in their plan.

Jodie Miller, Redmond