Trail advocates have a chance to comment on a trail issue in the Skyline Ridge area, but the time to comment is short.
Trails advocate Stan Justice is urging people to oppose an application to reroute the trail. He outlines his reasoning in this LETTER and he makes some good points.
The reroute is on the agenda for the Fairbanks Borough Assembly Thursday night (tomorrow). It is item 9b, “Memorandum from Kellen Spillman, Director of Community Planning, regarding vacation of a public non-motorized trail easement (VA002-24).” You can see the Assembly’s agenda HERE.
HOW TO ADVOCATE
- ATTEND the meeting (virtually or in-person). A public hearing for the resolution will start at or after 7 p.m.
- Testify or contact Assembly members via email and/or phone before the meeting. Find contact information HERE.
I first wrote about this in late April. Since that first POST, I have learned that quite a few people use that trail. As Stan points out, the Assembly should also take great care when moving a trail easement so that the move does not make the trail experience worse for trail users.
Unfortunately, the trail is not included in the Comprehensive Recreational Trails Plan, so it does not have the protections of that plan. But the trail does have an easement and there are certain requirements that need to be met when moving the trail. Stan argues convincingly that the requirements have not been met in the application to move the trail.
The FNSB Platting Board approved the trail move at an earlier meeting, but Stan has pointed out some flaws with making these decisions strictly on paper.
Since the snow has melted, Stan has gone up and checked out where the new trail would be put. Stan told me, “Part of the reroute is on the road embankment – at least 20 % side slope!”
He went on: “We should not attempt replats and trail moves in the middle of the winter as a paper exercise! The platting board should have asked ‘Are you sure the new alignment is not on the road embankment?’
“It is not feasible to put a trail in that easement. Benching for a trail is going to over steepen the embankment and cause erosion into the ditch. DOT will object. And if the back slope is made 2:1 we are in trespass outside the 10 foot easement. Unworkable.”
If you care about this issue, please let the Assembly know.
Hi,
First, thank you Eric, and others for all your advocacy. In this case, I frequently walk the general areas you discuss, so today decided to check this out. Please know that I’m somewhat illiterate in the ways of regulations regarding ROW’s, easements, etc. I’m just kind of an old fart retired scientists who likes to walk around on trails near home and am happy to just wander where there are no private property postings and where I feel like I’m not going to be walking through somebody’s back yard as they’re having a beer.
This message is probably of interest only to people who know this area pretty well. I don’t think my directions are going to make any sense to anybody else!
For reference, today I walked east on Golden Heart Drive from Summit, to its end, and crossed a trail of maybe 20 meters in length to get to the north-south powerline trail. Going downhill, to the south, gets you to Donna, going uphill, to the north, gets you to Skyline Drive. Usually I head south down to Donna, always assuming that north takes me into private property.
This time, I headed uphill, to the north, where at the crest of the hill it intersects with an east-west powerline trail. As I headed uphill, I noted that all along the left side was green tape marking the edge of the property. At the top, looking west on the east-west powerline trail there is a chain with a “Private Property” sign and something scribbled on that sign to the effect of “These powerlines are on private property.” There’s also a little “Poop-free zone” sign by it. I mention this because, as you walk down Donna Drive there’s a lot of dog poop (I won’t say who it’s from, but I’ve seen the prints in the winter), each pile circled in green spray paint 🙂 🙂
Anyway, I’m not real clear from Eric’s map (the one that shows easements in red, green and blue) if the red “Trail easement being vacated” is actually within the clearing of the powerline trail, or if it’s in the woods. If it’s in the woods, there’s no noticeable trail that parallels the powerline trail. I mean, if you really struggle you “might” make out an old, meandering trail, but it could just as easily be drainage paths through the woods. It’s not something that people have navigated in years.
If, in fact, the “Trail easement being vacated” is in that clearing, it seems like the Private Property sign is blocking access, and that would be a real shame because it looks like a nice, straight, easy trail of several hundred meters back to the beginning of Golden Heart Drive. I did take some pictures, but don’t see how I might attach any here. Happy to email to somebody if you want (my email address is at the end of this message).
At the intersection of the two powerline trails, at the crest of the hill, the north-south route becomes just a narrow path (which is an improvement over the last time I was up there, when you had to pick your way through) and goes straight, maybe 100 meters, to Skyline Drive. As Stan has mentioned, at Skyline Drive it’s kind of a steep slope that ends up going into a ditch. Would suck in the winter time, and even worse at breakup. And, anybody who travels that in the spring knows that it’s often a magnet for vehicles!
So, I already prepared a letter for the Assembly urging veto of the decision by the Platting Board, but figured I’d do my walk before actually sending it. At this point, if the “Trail easement being vacated” section is, in fact, along that powerline trail clearing, then I’m prepared to submit this letter. If it’s an obscure easement through the woods that nobody uses, then I’m wondering if it makes sense to just “let it go.” Like others, I don’t like the idea of seeing trail easements just vanish, but it seems like one needs to pick their battles.
Sorry this is so long and detailed, but it seems like maybe the details matter. Again, please understand that I really don’t know a lot of what I talk about here. I’m simply trying to report what I’ve seen on the ground this afternoon. Speaking of what I didn’t see on the ground this afternoon – not a single mosquito!
All the best,
Don Morton
donaldjmorton@gmail.com
http://borealsci.link/MortonBio/
Thanks for your insights, Don. A boots on the ground viewpoint is really important. I know you are communicating with Stan Justice. That’s the best thing. He knows more about this than I do and has more time. I’m in the middle of organizing the FCC Bike Swap, which happens on Saturday, so I can’t really contribute anything more. I’m glad you are involved because the locals are really the ones who should be commenting here.
Correction on my statement about the dog poop flagging on Donna Drive. I meant to say Golden Heart Drive, adjacent to the property whose boundary is flagged.
UPDATE FROM STAN JUSTICE:
So disappointing. Assembly voted 9-0 to approve platting board decision.