STR | SocalTrailRiders.org

.8down

http://sdmba.com/index.php?option=co...d=79&Itemid=19


New Trails and Old Guard Issues in Los Penasquitos for 2008





It looks like 2008 will be a busy year in terms of trails access issues, perhaps as important to multiuse supporters as was the ‘04/’05 season when our coordinated efforts were successful to legalize singletrack and full-size trails in Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve. In 2008, the issues of trail closures and access will apparently return to Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, which now includes the “Del Mar Mesa” “Tunnels” and “Carmel Mtn Mesa” areas. We’ll be faced with the opportunity to either create a broad network of singletrack and fire-road trails, or to be shut out and relegated to bike paths or outlaw status. This posting comes to you from the Multiuse Trails Coalition, about half of whom are also members of the SDMBA.

If you're riding, running or hiking the trails in and around Los Penasquitos Canyon and remain interested in preserving our mutual access, please think about getting involved at the Los Pen CAC this season, and please begin reaching out to those in your social network. If you’ve got fellow trail cyclists at your place of employment, in other organizations you participate in or at bike shops you frequent, please forward this email to them and turn them on to the Multiuse Trails Coalition and the SDMBA. In 1994, the surge of professional, tax-paying cyclists with kids, connections and careers was precisely what led to positive change in terms of trails access. In 2008, we’ll need a physical presence at meetings of the “Citizens’ Advisory Committee” that oversees Los Penasquitos, regular “individual” communication to Councilmen Brian Mainschein & Scott Peters, County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, Mayor Sanders and your local Community Planning Groups or “Town Council”.

First up, we have new trail issues. The long-awaited "legal" trail into Los Pen from Mira Mesa has been designed to connect the new Camino Ruiz Park to the Main Trail in Los Pen. From the outset, both the MTC and the SDMBA have been adamant that this trail should be, at the very least, a hike/bike trail. As it stands now, the proposed trail corridor is designed to preserve a canopy much like that in the "Tunnel" trails to the north. The trail will meander easily down the south and western slopes of the arroyo leading to the Main Trail in the canyon, using the scrub oak and Manzanita for shade and speed control. It has been anticipated that sightline issues will be resolved as they are in the privately-owned Tunnel trails and that preservation of the indigenous canopy would not be an issue since the Camino Ruiz Park has no equestrian facilities or capacity. However, we learned in November that the Rangers now intend to present the trail as Pedestrian Only, and the Los Pen CAC's Trail Committee met without cyclists to vote that the trail be closed to bikes but designated an equestrian trail! To put it mildy, this is ridiculous! It presents a breach of all that we’ve been told over time by City staff and would mean that we’d have to fight for access on a trail that will certainly generate loads of "violations" as Mira Mesans on bikes will certainly use the first legit trail from the Mesa rim, ever. For historical perspective, the most recently constructed “new trail” in the Preserve is the “Shaw Valley Trail”, built by the City of San Diego at a cost of over $200,000.00 dollars and designated as a Horse/Hike only trail. It’s closed to cyclists and was constructed to serve equestrian ranches in Carmel Valley. We need to get political action moving on this issue, immediately.

Second, we need Cyclist Representation on the Los Pen Trails Committee! Our longstanding stalwart from the Multiuse Trails Coalition, Craig Bosworth, has done his time and become very busy with his kids. If you're willing to serve, and interested in trail design but understand this committee is mostly about access politics, WE NEED YOU. SDMBA’s Mike Maio has just volunteered to serve on the committee, but we need at least one more person that’s interested. In 2008, this committee will be charged with reviewing the “Tunnels” trails as they come into the park system. Will the trails be closed to bikes and the canopy hacked apart? This committee’s recommendations will play a large part in that decision.

Third, the CAC has embarked on an "update" to the LPCP Master Plan. The 1994 "Master Plan" for Los Penasquitos was and is the document that anti-multiuse types look to because it provides that bicycle access should be limited to only the Main Trail, all dogs should be banned and that access to the Preserve should generally be limited to either "environmentalists" or equestrians. Can you tell it was largely written by the commercial equestrian interests and the then-President of the San Diego Sierra Club? Well, the update committee is formed and there ARE legitimate reasons to update and bolster the Master Plan as a document to guide preservation and use of the LPCP for the coming decades. However, this is also being treated by a newly-invigorated anti-bike crowd as an opportunity to "re-cement" anto-bike propaganda regarding trails impacts and access issues. This update process will be a long, slow one, but if you’re supportive of multiuse trails, know how to research and present material related to user group impacts and etc… we’re looking for your help. Let’s make this document truly reflect the resource the Preserve provides to the community!

We need cyclist and pro-multiuse NON-CYCLIST participation on the CAC, ASAP. If you're interested, post or email to meThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you’re either serving, or willing to serve on the Rancho Penasquitos or Scripps Ranch “community planning group/boards”, there is currently an open seat on the Los Pen CAC for a “CPG representative”. Neither of those two communities have ever been represented on the CAC, but there are several members who will support an application. If you’re interested, please contact me. Keep in mind that the anti-bike crowd watch very closely and will attempt to prevent anyone that may upset their numerical advantage in voting on the CAC.

Fourth, the Clews Horse Ranch in Carmel Valley, just south of the 56 freeway at Carmel Country Road, has finally been approved by the California Coast Commission, and it's set up to house 136 horses, plus up to a dozen cattle. While great news for the Clewses and folks looking to board horses in Carmel Valley, this will have potential impacts on the Preserve---and multiuse trail access: the Clewses have indicated plans to run another rental horse concession from their ranch and to open their property for all local equestrians to use as a gateway into the Carmel Mtn Mesa and Los Pen. This would mean vastly increased horse traffic on the Shaw Valley Trail (currently closed to bikes), Cobblestone trail(s), the N-10 Trail that leads to the top of Little Waimea and the entire Carmel Mtn. Preserve. The known anti-bike members of the CAC have been very clear that they intend to seek RESTRICTIONS on bike access for every current multiuse trail. This is big business, with money to be made by opponents of families on bikes. I think it’s a great time for cyclists to get involved, before it’s too late.

The multiuse running and cycling community vastly outnumbers the anti-bike equestrian groups, but we are under-represented in our local government and at the CAC meetings for Los Penasquitos. If you're interested in keeping the motto "Trails are for Everyone" viable, we're going to need your help in the coming year.

Thanks,
Eric Basil, Multiuse Trails Coalition

__________________

el_d00der1n0

I already sent an email to Eric Basil expressing my interest to get involved.

It's really unfortunate it has to be us vs. the horse people.

__________________
all your macs are belong to us

nappyt

Greg says they have two positions opening/open on the CAC for LPQ.

__________________

el_d00der1n0

Quote:

Originally Posted by nappyt Greg says they have two positions opening/open on the CAC for LPQ.

The article mentions one opening:

Quote:

If you’re either serving, or willing to serve on the Rancho Penasquitos or Scripps Ranch “community planning group/boards”, there is currently an open seat on the Los Pen CAC for a “CPG representative”.

I'm not sure what all that entails and if I can commit to that.

__________________
all your macs are belong to us

nappyt

I see where the other position went. I think Mike is the liaison for LPQ.
"SDMBA’s Mike Maio has just volunteered to serve on the committee"


"yes, there are PQ CAC meetings. (Citizen Advisory committee)

The PQ CAC Meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of odd-numbered months, 7:00 pm, at the Santa Maria de los Peñasquitos Adobe building, off of Black Mountain Road.

SDMBA is looking for representatives to be on the PQ CAC board, we have two open positions we need filled.

If you are not a member of SDMBA, I would highly recommend joining, it only cost $20 per year to join. If you are a SDMBA member thank you for your support.

Greg
SDMBA Board member
SDMBA"

__________________

OffRoadie

I'd like to get involved somehow since LPQ is my local. What do I actually have to do? Do I just show up at the meeting, or is there something else I should do? And what is this "Community Planning Group?"

b5driver

I think the community planning group is part of SRCA. If you go to www.scrippsranch.org that should give you some info. Also, if you get the newsletter that I think just came out last week, they usually have some info about the differnt planning groups within SRCA.

EBasil

Hey!

I know there are more acronyms than you can shake your...well, stick at, so let me explain a few that get used because the real terms are even worse:

"CPG" is a Community Planning Group. The City of San Diego uses these citizen committees to preview and approve new developements within their neighborhoods. There are CPG's for Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch, the Del Mar Mesa, Torrey Hills, Rancho Penasquitos, etc... Sometimes, CPG's can send a "delegate" to the LPCP-CAC.

"CAC" is a Citizens' Advisory Committee. These are used by the City of San Diego to provide basic administration and planning for parks and preserves. Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve (LPCP) has one, and it's got 19 seats (!).

The LPCP-CAC has some openings on the 19-seat board. Now when the 19-seats were devised, it was with a careful eye to ensure that pro-multiuse persons didn't outnumber the anti-bike/equestrian members that have run the CAC for years. So, when there are openings, the anti-bike crew gather together and seek out more anti-bikers to fill the holes, AND they strongly opposed anyone that looks, talks, smells, or sounds like they even own an mtb. The exception to this is when the "Seat" is one that's assigned to an organization, such as a CPG or a user group. In those cases, the CPG gets to decide who their rep is and the CAC has little to say. For example, the most strident advocate of anti-bike rules is an equestrian from the Del Mar Mesa CPG, on the LPCP_CAC as a delegate.

There are also "Member at Large" positions. The CAC Chair, Geoff Smith (former SD Sierra Club Prez) and I are both "at large members" and our seats expire/renew in '09. Another At-Large Position is currently vacant, and technically only requires that the person be from the communities served by the Preserve. Realistically, such a person won't get approved by suspicious vendors of hate if s/he looks, smells, acts...as above.

There's another position potentially available after that: the Multiuse Trails Coalition ...somebody post that yahoo link for me... has a permanent seat and our delegate, Craig Bosworth has been doing it for 3 years...he's busy and wants to pass the torch. The requirement for that spot is that you join up at the Yahoo site, impress a few of us with your dedication to shared trails, are willing to spend long hours at really slow meetings, have good linkage to trail users (horse, bike, trail runners) and are willing to advocate. I act like a bombthrower online, but it's not nearly that easy or coarse, most of the time.

There's another level of involvement at the LPCP-CAC: committees. There are essentially only three committees: The Trails Committee, the Master Plan Update and the Code Enforcement Committee.

The Trails Cmte is one that evaluates trails for adequacy as multiuse or those related to new developments. When it was formed, the chair had lots of experience in trails building (supervision) and development approvals, and no anti-bike bias. Our current chair is an anti-bike equestrian spouse ("I don't own a horse. My wife does.") without trailwork/design experience, and has created swing votes that ensure this committee will NEVER approve a multiuse trail in its current form, BUT we have to stay on it in order to show that it's a crock when they pull stuff. Mike Maio just stepped up to fill one open spot held for cyclists (Craig Bosworth's) and there may be one more.

The Master Plan committee is tasked to update the big, fat document that "master plans" the preserve over time. The 1994/8 version of this doc is filled with anti-bike propaganda straight out of that era's bag of filth, but it also includes assessments of biological resources, historical data, etc... Yours truly is in charge of that committee, and I've tasked us with updating the bio/historical section first. There are spaces now, if you're in the biological assessment biz/hobby or historical/archeological bent, to work on this update by acquiring data from various sources...some ofwhich you'll have to invent. Later, there will be spaces for folks willing to work on a comprehensive trails plan, and to amass studies and data regarding trails use and impacts that are real, not propaganda...

Lastly, the Enforcement Cmte is one tasked to find and notify adjacent landowners that are draining, building, landscaping etc into the preserve. Parts of LPCP are lined iwth homes that each have private entrances and landscaping right down into the preserve. This cmte is currently stalled for lack of basic info from the City: we need a freaking map with property lines and they gave us a topo several years old without any lot lines on it. If you're a whiz with Google Earth, I think we could get this one cranking and moving right along. I know the chair of this committee fairly well... so if you're willing to jump on this one, it's a chance to "preserve the preserve" and a great way to establish "environmental credibility" if you'd like to sit on the CAC later.

__________________
Responsible Use is a Reason for Preservation of Public Lands.

IM4Ruckus

Eric Basil,

You've been missing in action for sometime. Have you returned riding PQ lately? It's always good to Hello to Big E !!

IM4Ruckus

SDCountyHORSEMAN

LOTS of us ride horses that are not afraid of bikes. We would be willing to share space with you. But some of you don't want that.

el d00der1n0 said: "It's a shame it has to come down to us vs. the horse people" I agree.

el d00der1n0 also said: "Get ready for some chocolate pain B!7c#" Horses are LIVESTOCK, and it is ILLEGAL in California to harrass/threaten livestock, so YOU have just made a documentable THREAT. (Thank You for the screen capture in case this winds up in COURT someday). You are doing WONDERS for your cause. Keep it up.

So what IS chocolate pain? Are you going to run into my horse with your bike? She is a draft horse and weighs 1700 pounds! If you do it, the horse will probably get cut up some and need some stitches, but your bike will be trashed when she steps on it, and you could get hurt pretty bad. Frankly, it would be like hitting a wall, and then having it step on you (and if you run into her on purpose, I would NOT try to prevent her stepping on you).

For everyone's benefit, you should know that I am forwarding this webpage to every equestrian group in San Diego County.

Comments welcome

TCB

SDCountyHORSEMAN,Welcome to STR

Have a good weekend

__________________
"Keep it singletrack” stay on the trail to avoid widening the trail, on narrow singletrack stop and lean the bike to one side to allow others to pass.

OffRoadie

How do you construe that as a threat? That's a signature line, not part of the post.

The post says:
"I already sent an email to Eric Basil expressing my interest to get involved.

It's really unfortunate it has to be us vs. the horse people."

PacMan

Yes, what he said. It's a signature line, not a threat. If you look at El Dood's other posts, that same signature line is there.

Your actions aren't really helping your cause here either.

__________________
BJammin: Hey Mark, I FYM!!

Zippy

Wow. What a hateful diatribe. Please re-read the post you quoted and before issuing such an emotional response, take a minute to read what you've written and be sure that's what you want to say. Yes, horses are big, please don't deliberately step on a fellow trail user.

__________________
Swim, bike, run.
www.zippyathlete.blogspot.com

Red Hot Sloth

You've got to be kidding me.

SdCountyhorseman...I am quite positive you are taking out of context what eldooder1no was saying. Also, the chocolate pain thing is a sig line.
We all know eldooder1no well, and he is not that type of person, he is a very respectful, respectable, decent, and kind man with a pleasant and mild demeanor.
You are barking up the wrong tree on this...heck your barking at the wrong forest.

__________________
"This is America, we are supposed to be the best at everything...Period"
Charles Barkley

SKULLY

I think that all groups can coexist on multiuse trails.

When I approach an equestrian I yeild. I stop, talk to the rider and horse, ask if the horse is okay for me to ride by or if they would like me to dismount and walk by.

I would hope that all equestrians would show equal respect and not ride a horse that spooks easily around people, jogging strollers, and bikes on a busy
multiuse trail. Also, that they respect the trail and not ride trails after it rains.
I would hope that they could wait at least a week or two after the rain due to
the severe damage that a horse does to trails and fire roads.

If we all know how to respect each other, the trails should stay open to all.

__________________
The answer is beer, but I can't remember the question.

lukewiens