The city should remove all proposed trails from open areas
around Jackson Oaks, Morgan Hill Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft
said at a crowded Morgan Hill Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee
meeting.
Morgan Hill – The city should remove all proposed trails from open areas around Jackson Oaks, Morgan Hill Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft said at a crowded Morgan Hill Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee meeting.
The recommendation won’t alter or kill a proposed trails master plan, but Ashcraft’s words indicated a capitulation to angry Jackson Oaks residents who’ve been objecting to hints of putting trails near their secluded homes.
“The (proposed) trails were intended for people in the neighborhood,” Ashcraft said during a Thursday meeting at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center. “If the people in the neighborhood don’t want them, then they shouldn’t be included” in the recreational master plan.
An audience of nearly 100 Jackson Oaks residents erupted in applause after Ashcraft’s announcement.
The clamor punctuated the latest turning point in a controversy that has caught some city officials off guard. A map with lines on it showing where future public trails might be built has caused an uproar in Jackson Oaks, where many properties lack fences, seasonal dry brush poses fire risks and many residents say they don’t want “strangers” passing near their homes.
“We are not against public trails … we just don’t think it’s the right location in this area,” said Mike Purser, a Jackson Oaks resident who spoke at the meeting.
The proposed Jackson Oaks trail routes are part of the city’s Trails and Natural Resources Study, released in February to outline a 20-mile-plus network of city trails and walking paths. The paths connect parks, public facilities, neighborhoods and open areas.
The Jackson Oaks portion shows two to three miles of trails starting near Jackson Elementary School and looping through 260 acres of publicly owned open space. The hillsides around Jackson Oaks cost taxpayers about $38,000 a year to maintain, but there is no public access to the terrain.
A number of Jackson Oaks residents believe trails would invite troublemakers into the neighborhood. Some say the paths could give teenagers a hideout for drinking and smoking. Others fear dangerous criminals.
“I like to lay out in my backyard and tan,” said 18-year-old resident Jennifer Yoder, adding she doesn’t like the idea of strangers looking into her yard. “I have a right to feel safe at my home.”
Some residents at the meeting said trails would disturb wildlife, including quail, deer, turkeys and boars. They also warned boars, rattlesnakes, black widow spiders and mountain lions pose a threat to would-be hikers.
Michael Sanders, a retired Santa Clara County and Morgan Hill fire captain who lives on Jackson Oaks Drive, submitted a letter to the committee warning of fire risks in the dry hills.
“If and when a fire occurs along one of the (proposed) trails the fire department will be lucky if no homes are destroyed,” Sanders wrote, adding he responded to 12 blazes in the Jackson Oaks area during his 30-year career.
Outnumbered but unafraid, a few trail proponents also spoke at the meeting.
Morgan Hill resident Rob Jankura, a self-described mountain bike enthusiast, said perceived trail risks should be studied before a final decision is made.
Mark Frederick, a member of the Morgan Hill Parks and Recreation Commission, who works with the Santa Clara County parks system, said Jackson Oaks residents are overreacting to the proposed trail routes.
“The challenge for (decision makers) is to separate the paranoia and fear and NIMBY-ism from real issues,” Frederick said, adding the county’s 200-mile trail system is relatively safe. “That’s public property up there and we’re all taxpayers.”
Alan Clark, also a member of the Morgan Hill Parks and Recreation Commission, accused Jackson Oaks residents of being “elitist and exclusionary” in an e-mail he sent Thursday to committee members. While agreeing fire and parking issues should be addressed, Clark said “all other arguments (against the trails) are not-in-my-backyard arguments.”
Alarmed by the large turnout, the bicycle and trails advisory committee voted 4-0 to hold the item over for its June meeting. The policy advisory body has power to alter the proposed plan, but they can send strong recommendations to the Morgan Hill City Council.
The council is scheduled to approve public comments in September. Following an environmental review this fall, the council is expected to adopt the final master plan in February 2008.
