For those of us who couldn't get into or hear last night's City Council deliberations on Multi-Use Trails, what happened? Please post a precis.
Thanks
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For those of us who couldn't get into or hear last night's City Council deliberations on Multi-Use Trails, what happened? Please post a precis.
Thanks
I wanted to watch the council deliberate on the trails question, but I left after not being able to get even close to the room. It was seriously packed!
Mombo's Pizza, who sponsor the charity Mombos 2 Mombo's bike rides in May each year, generously delivered 5 or more free pizzas to the large crowd that included many kids.
Sonoma West's excellent article about the meeting is below. What else did you hear? Did anything change your thinking? Do you think the council acted wisely and responsively??
https://i.imgur.com/yv1Iu.png
Proposed Sebastopol trails run into strong opposition
https://www.sonomawest.com/sonoma_west_times_and_news/news/proposed-sebastopol-trails-run-into-strong-opposition/article_6a4ace1c-7028-11e4-85ea-63ffb2e438c9.html
Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 12:12 pm
by Sara Gobets Sonoma West Staff Writer [email protected]
Council sends concept to staff for further study
Tensions ran high at the city council meeting Tuesday night as the council considered whether to fold two proposed Sebastopol class I multi-use trails into the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan and provide $23,500 in funding for grant applications.
After nearly five hours of discussion, which included giving time to more than 30 public commentators to speak their minds, the council decided to not immediately add the proposed multi-use trails to the master plan, but instead created a subcommittee to create a more feasible proposal for the 2015-2016 budget cycle. Nearly all other agenda items were postponed.
Impassioned citizens poured into the Youth Annex at the Community Center to weigh in on the plans that many of them had just heard about and about 30 left the meeting due to lack of space. Most speakers were those whose property and neighborhoods would be directly affected by the bike trails as they were presented.
The two proposed multi-use trails would start at the Joe Rodota trailhead, with the Apple Blossom Trail running west to Valley View neighborhood and the Gravenstein Trail running south, roughly parallel to Highway 116 terminating at Lynch Road. The Apple Blossom trail would be 2.9 miles long and the Gravenstein would be 2.1 miles long.
The trails were originally proposed by a Complete Streets subcommittee spearheaded by Lynn Deedler, who created a group called the Sebastopol Trailmakers and did his work independent of the city process.
Sebastopol Planning Director Kenyon Webster expressed concerns about the proposal and advised the council not to adopt the trails as is into the Master Plan.
“There are significant issues with both trails, not just the location, but the potential cost that the trails could cost the city,” Webster said, adding, “Negotiating with this many private properties can be difficult, expensive and time consuming.”
Most of the public seemed less concerned with financial feasibility than where the proposed trail line fell on the map.
Residents of the Eleanor, Walker, and Fannen Avenue neighborhood spoke out about the cramped streets they already have to navigate on a regular basis, and were concerned with the increase of congestion and scarcity of parking during downtown events.
Senior citizens residing at Burbank Heights and Orchard Senior Housing were worried about being knocked over by speeding bicyclist zipping through their property.
The section of the trail that runs through Luther Burbank’s Gold Ridge Experiment Farm was also fiercely contested by BH&O residents and Farm volunteers who voiced concern that the trail would ruin the historic property.
Other concern included the trails attracting more homeless encampments in the city and one property owner warned that the piece proposed along her property is extremely prone to flooding.
While it was made clear that the current route for the proposed trails would meet strong opposition on several fronts, one resounding message still rang out over the criticism: Sebastopol needs safer bike trails, just not these ones.
Sebastopol Bike Center owner Denver Booker likened Sebastopol’s current cyclist offerings to “black diamond bike lanes,” and many others agree. Though the proposed trails set before the council and public were less than ideal, practically everyone who spoke out agreed they support the idea of safer bike routes.
By the end of the meeting, the crowd had dwindled down to about 30 die-hard people who awaited the council’s decision.
Councilmember John Eder urged the council to consider the proposed trails and advocated for a feasibility study to work out the kinks. Eder stressed the importance of implementing environmentally friendly traffic solutions in the city and letting professionals assess the feasibility of the two trails.
“I understand the concern of the people in various affected neighborhoods and I’m not saying it will be disregarded,” Eder said. “But to torpedo this plan at this point I think would be very shortsighted for the future of our community.”
Eder moved to create study zones in broader swatches following the two proposed trails, citing the importance that council pledge some definite action now to keep it from remaining hypothetical.
The motion was denied by the rest of the board, who agreed that they felt the motion was too hasty and more time was needed to hear community concern and develop a more viable plan. Councilmembers Sarah Gurney and Una Glass agreed that they were concerned about the level of controversy the issue has already caused and would like to address the issue on a community level before taking the proposal to the experts.
Eventually, Vice Mayor Patrick Slayter moved to direct staff to create an outline of a public process and preliminary budget to consider amendments to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan in regards to an east-west and north-south route concept to be considered for the upcoming 2015-2016 budget. The outline will include considering any need for initial professional consultant assistance and CEQA analysis.
The motion passed unanimously.
David Abbott contributed to this report
Barry, you left too soon. They took a break before the item and (with the police chief in charge) moved all the chairs way to the front and added many more chairs in the back. Pretty much everyone got in.