Re: RC: trail preservation...have a question

[Nancy DuPont <Htrails@Earthlink.net>]

Have you heard about the park dedication ordinance?  After
designating trails on a map of a county - including through private land,
the trails, being designated stay on this map until the property is SOLD
by the landowner to a developer. At that time the buyer, the developer
must consider putting a trail through the new property before developing
or contribute like dollars to build a trail.  This ordinance was in
place in the East Bay area of California and that is why after 50 years
of development, we were able to include trails to connect 60 parks in
Alameda and Contra Costa County.  We did not take anyone's property
or assume we could use private land.  We just waited until it was
sold. Sharon Saare knows all about this. She (and George Cardinet) put
together a film called Trails for Today and Tomorrow.


At 10:08 AM 3/21/00 -0500, you wrote:
> In a message dated 03/20/2000 10:55:28 PM
> Pacific Standard Time, 
> superpat@gateway.net writes:
>
> <<  As we devise a plan for re-routing the trail, it 
> will
>  still be necessary to go through a small portion of some of the
> private
>  land. It would be helpful to know if what I remember hearing is
> correct.
>  Does anyone out there know if and where I can find information
> about the
>  necessity for private land owners to allow access to trail when the
> trail
>  has been in use for a number of years? >>
>
> I don't know what the rules are, but as a private property owner, I would
> be 
> livid if someone tried to claim that just because people had used the
> right 
> to go through my property for X number of years, they had a permanent
> right 
> to do so.  In Europe, there is so little space compared to what we
> have in 
> this country, that riding/hiking trails go right through someone's front
> yard 
> and this is accepted as the norm.  This is not the case in this
> country, and 
> we hold our private property rights dear.  If I were in your place,
> I would 
> make an appeal to the property owner for right of way, but I surely
> wouldn't 
> approach that owner with any attitude of having the right to use his land
> just because it had always been that way.  Humility and appreciation
> work 
> where assumption of rights and force do not.  Been there, done
> that.....  We 
> love to share our land, on certain occasions, with the general public,
> and 
> for neighbors...all the time.  But come on with an assumption of
> your right 
> to use our land, and them's fighting words!
> BTW, there is probably more park land in this county than any other
> county in 
> the state or country, but some people don't want to use IT; they're
> looking 
> for someplace to get away from the public, from rules and from control by
> the 
> rangers.
>
> Barbara
>
>
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Nancy DuPont, Executive Director
Heritage Trails
1350 Castle Rock Road
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Our Mission: To preserve and protect trails and
answer the question, "Where are you going to ride your horses, and
where are you going to keep them."
Telephone (925)937-7661 FAX (925) 943-7431