Boulder County is buying a vacant 20-acre property in Gunbarrel that’s owned by Tennis Center of the Rockies, which previously proposed a tennis complex there that sparked intense public interest.

The purchase price for the property, located near the intersection of Lookout Road and North 79th St., is $1.8 million. The county will use open space sales tax dollars to pay for the property, which is zoned as agriculture and borders a conservation area and grassland preserve.

“This is a great project,” Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann said before voting to approve the purchase this week.

Tennis Center of the Rockies bought the property a few years ago, then submitted an application to Boulder County in December 2023 to build a large tennis facility. The plans included 18 tennis courts plus eight smaller courts for youth and kids, a kids clubhouse and pool, and a viewing structure to accommodate 50 to 200 spectators.

But the center ended up withdrawing the application last year, noting the county had received more than 1,000 emails regarding the application that were “roughly split” between people supporting and opposing the tennis complex.

Supporters cited a worsening shortage of tennis courts in the Boulder area. Those opposed, including numerous nearby residents, said the proposal threatened to fragment vulnerable wildlife habitat, bring unwanted traffic and noise to the area, disrupt rural preservation and ruin views of the mountains. Another fear was, if the county approved such a project, it could set a precedent for how other Boulder County land is managed in the future.

The east and west boundaries of the property are adjacent to land owned and managed by Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks. A similarly sized property on the south border is owned by by Vinelife Community Church.

Boulder County Senior Land Officer Tina Burghardt said Boulder staff members asked the county to purchase the property because the city didn’t have the amount needed to cover the purchase. Staff members will evaluate potential uses of the property after it’s acquired, including potentially closing it to the public to protect wildlife, she said. Wildlife in the area includes the grasshopper sparrow, burrowing owls, eagles and prairie dogs.

Along with preserving wildlife habitat, she said, the purchase will maintain unobstructed views and further preserve the rural area between Gunbarrel and Niwot.