By Noel Smith
The long delayed beginning of the $40 million dollar Aptos village Project began with the loss of the famed Post Office Jumps mountain bike track after eight years of flying bikes and developing fearless mountain bikers.
When Barry Swenson Builder bought the land for the Project, Jesse Nickell, vice president of Barry Swenson Builder, struck a deal to preserve the jumps when it was obvious that development would be delayed. Starting in 2007 he leased the land to the county for a dollar a year as a temporary public park. This relieved the company of liability while allowing the bicycle facility to be expanded and improved. Nickell is a mountain bike enthusiast and former coach whose sons often used the park.
Finally, the board of supervisors approved the project in 2012. The new Aptos Village will change the 9-acre area close to Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road into a pedestrian-friendly village center with tree-lined streets, a park, shops, apartments and condos. The project will also improve the entry to Forest of Nisene Marks State Park while restoring the historic Hinh Apple Barn.
The project’s first phase includes some of the planned buildings and completing the new roads by the fall of 2016. The new streets connecting Aptos Creek and Trout Gulch Roads have been designed to handle traffic generated by the new businesses and the 69 new housing units.
According to Patrick Mulhearn, an analyst in Supervisor Zach Friend’s Office, there will be community meetings and updates about the project.
But the loss of the Post Office Jumps is not without its up side. Because of its example, three more parks around the county now exist with one more planned and efforts are underway to find a new location to replace the now vanished jumps.
All photos were taken on Feb 16, Presidents’ Day 2015, and the last day of the Post Office Jumps in Aptos.
