This Week in the Mercury

Buster Keaton and Time-Traveling Hipsters

Film

Buster Keaton and Time-Traveling Hipsters

Making a Little Time for Oscar-Nominated Shorts


<i>Madame Butterfly</i>

Theater

Madame Butterfly

Portland Opera Takes on Puccini's Tale of Love and Betrayal



  |  

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Neighborhoods Are Public Trails a Public Nuisance?

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 4:00 PM

That was the sentiment of some SW Portland residents at a packed meeting last night discussing the "issues" ("There used to be such a thing as 'problems,' now we have 'issues,'" noted city planner Paul Smith) over the trails that run all through Portland's woodsy southwest.

Eight years ago, City Council approved the SW Urban Trails Plan, which authorizes volunteer work crews from a neighborhood nonprofit named SW Trails to improve the footpaths winding mostly through "public rights of way" - swaths of land around Hillsdale that neighbors are responsible for maintaining but don't technically own. Since then, SW Trails has worked on about 25 trails and now some resentment and questions are bubbling up from people who own property along those paths.

swtrails14.jpg

volunteers buildin' stuff - via SW Trails

The big issue is, of course, money. Though no one has sued anyone yet and the law is not completely clear, it seems that if a hiker hurts themselves on the trail, the liability for the injury would fall on the person whose property the trail runs closest to. Neighbors in the area have been griping about this apparent loophole for a while and one man recently went so far as to tear out a set of stairs SW Trails constructed near his property because he was afraid he'd be liable for them. Property owner Larry Sloane thinks SW Trails or the city should be responsible for what happens on the path near his house. "Why does [SW Trails] liability cease the minute the works cease and they walk away?" he asked last night. "What about trails done with little or no oversight?"

This is interesting because most cities of our size don't have to deal with things like, "Who will clear brush from our trails?" because most cities don't have big swaths of woods in their neighborhoods. Portland's unique in that the border between residential and rural is much more blurred than most places. But not everyone's happy about how day to day living in the borderlands shapes up.

After the meeting, an older woman who didn't want her name in print listed the visitors who have walked down a trail and right up to her house. "An elk, a vandal, a thief and a vagrant," she said, continuing, "The trail is a nuisance. They treat it like a public trail but we're on private property. I pay property taxes on it." That woman, like others at the meeting, said they felt the trail maps distributed by the city and SW Trails threatened their privacy, since the trails run close to houses. "The trails are an attractive nuisance," resolved another neighbor.

SW Trails leader Don Baack said all trail projects were on hold until these issues are resolved, but in the mean time, he points out that all kinds of people appreciate the trails -- runners, schoolkids and neighbors who would rather walk through trees than along sidewalk-less roads. "All the projects SW trails have done have made trails safer," says Baack.

What's up next? What do you think, it's Portland: more meetings. The trails working group is convening again on January 13th.

 

Comments (7) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
OMG, fuck off. Only in SW Portland.
Posted by gabriel amadeus on December 3, 2008 at 5:13 PM · Report
2
Do these self-absorbed people not realize that their property values are considerably higher by having such an attractive amenity nearby? They can fucking move if they don't want to deal with the trails. I'm sure there are (in decent economic times, anyway) plenty of potential buyers who would love to live next to a wooded trail and would happily maintain their portion of it.
Posted by ElGordo on December 4, 2008 at 9:22 AM · Report
3
It's got to be either public or private. If it's public, then gov't has to compensate the land owner and maintain it themselves. I'm not surprised the property owners are pissed.

And Hillsdale isn't he "borderlands" between urban and rural. Check a map.
Posted by Blabby on December 4, 2008 at 11:52 AM · Report
4
You guys post too much. This was put up yesterday at 4 PM, and by noon today it's the 10th post down. That's only 5 hours in work time. This is a blog, not a twitter page. I think you can lay off the fashion a little and quit double posting from sites like bike portland. There are only a handful of decent blogs in this town, and I'm sure they all have similar readership.
Posted by GLV on December 4, 2008 at 12:54 PM · Report
5
Here ya go, GLV.

http://www.wikihow.com/Learn-Speed-Reading
Posted by Wm. Steven Humphrey on December 4, 2008 at 2:09 PM · Report
6
Blabby - I'm responsible for the sidewalk in front of my house, which is considered in the public right of way. Not really much of a difference there, except the city would come down on me with a shithammer if I tried to remove it.
Posted by ElGordo on December 4, 2008 at 2:43 PM · Report
7
ElGordo - There is a huge difference. The chance of injury on a poor trail, which some are, is far greater than a city maintained sidewalk. Someone shouldn’t be forced, and I mean forced, to move because of the city laying unreasonable liability on their heads. Some live there because of the schools and proximity to downtown. You want to make a family move their children away from all of their friends and sent to a new, possibly lower quality, school? You want the elderly couple to move from the only home they’ve ever owned because they can’t keep the trail up themselves? The area is not new development. A lot of the houses are older, and some still house the original owners, owners who couldn’t afford to buy into the area in today’s market. These “self-absorbed people” have a right to object to something that affects their homes and lives. I guess others will just have to wait until they are sued for their sidewalks to understand the apprehension felt by these homeowners.
Posted by dizzypdx on December 5, 2008 at 1:06 AM · Report

Add a comment

Our Friends

Our Enemies

/images/adoftheweek.gif

ad of the day

The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.go


post an ad

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use