City of SD's Plans for Tunnels Trails Revealed?

Big Thanks to all that attended the CAC last night. We could not have had a better result than the unanimous CAC vote to extend the public comment period, City Staff's apparent acceptance of that, and the extra bonus that our new Deputy Director of Open Space was in attendance for his first visit to Los Pen... just in time to see 30 members of the trails community acting and speaking well.

Out of last night came some big movements, some bigger tasks before us and a reaffirmation that this "management plan" is the ground on which future trails access wars will be fought. As Deputy Director Zirkle reiterated: trails and usage not contemplated in this plan are subject to enforcement and closure by Rangers, AND the City may well use this plan as a model for others throughout the Multiple Species Conservation Act lands (ie the open space parks).

There are a number of things we're going to need you (if you're reading this) to do, and a small group of strategists are already working on a plan, but suffice it to say it won't all be as easy as attending a meeting and acting reasonable.

--We're going to have to produce our own trail maps of the DMM and of Deer Canyon. Note that "The Shits"/Duck Pond trail is shown as a "closed trail" in the draft plan, for example. We're going to have to identify which trails are out there that we CAN sacrifice, and that will be hard for some to recognize the need for.

--We're going to need persons with biological expertise to critique and review the biological/habitat sections of the plan, which appear outdated and incomplete.

--We'll need to cull through the document to find and object to each and every of the little comments that characterize biking as a "destructive sport" but leave out other such "sports" or refer to them as "established uses".

--We'll need to check the "cites" used to reports, and provide our own from the body of data that's come into acceptance since 2001 regarding trails impacts and construction.

--We'll need to update and provide a better trails construction section for the corporate authors of this plan

That's a few of the things that aren't as glamorous or fun as just going out to ride and such, but we'll need to do them if you want to have a trails network ten years from now that results from your work this Fall and next Winter.

 

with a grain of salt

Take this with a grain of salt, feel free to flame away.

I am not sure if this is really the best approach. Now surely you know more about the area and preserve than I do but if the city doesn't own the land, is bringing even more attention to it the right thing to do?

Double edge sword right now. Ride it until it is posted and enforced or map the whole thing out and hand this info over to others?

I am not saying one way is better than the other, I just have this strange feeling that all the attention to the "tunnels" to begin with has already begun to have a negative affect. (really this cannot even be argued, I go back to original statement of 2 years ago many of the people (who ride there now) had no idea it even existed)

I would say bottom line would be who owns the land, who will own the land and is there are actual proof that if the city does not own the land, they will be acquiring it or making an attempt to acquire it.

I would very much suggest a "if this land were acquired, existing trails be maintained/kept" without maps, rather than a "all these trails exist and are currently being ridden illegally, therefore we need to work to continue riding them illegally"

Just my opinion though, said as politely and politically correct as possible.

 

I agree with you that it's a an issue than can come back to cut us (ie double-edged) and my answer to your question is, Yes. Here's why:

The DMM/CMM RMP (resource management plan) will be used to define, among other things, the trails network for the entire area, including Deer Cyn, if and when it transfers into the City. Since Deer Cyn would likely become a part of the DMM Preserve (itself linked to mgt by LPCP), anticipation and accomodation for trails in Deer Canyon has to happen now, or the absence of trails plans showing links to the new parcel will be use to justify closure and eradication of the entire system.

The new Deputy Director of the Open Space Division, Chris Zirkle, confirmed that last night with a reiterated warning to the community: figure it all out now and be prepared for Rangers to close anything you don't have pre-approved in the RMP.

Now, this land we're speaking of in this mini-topic (there are many trails not in Deer Cyn that we must also put in the RMP) isn't City land yet, but all the City staff know about it, we know about it, and we have the group ability to get our act together to ensure that at least SOME of it is open, legal and accessible in a decade and more (as opposed to next week, next month and next year) as part of an approved trails system.

Sure, we can get cut by our own sword if people were to go in there and build jumps, ladder-drops, berm-shot corners or...cut new trails. Here's how:

--It is now certain that the LPCP Trails Committee will visit Deer Canyon to tour the trails very soon.

--It is now certain that LPCP Ranger Gina Washington and SD Trails Czar Rick Thompson will revisit those trails in the near future.

--It is now likely that persons very much opposed to such trails, smiling, fun, bicycles and puppies will visit those trails looking to find something "wrong".

All that was coming, anyway. To stay silient and inactive on the issues regarding these trails would only serve to empower those opposed to trails, opposed to you uppity mountainbikers and eager to fence the whole place off from everyone. We have work to do, and the time is now, "now".

 

OCD at this stage, participating in this process appears to be the only way.

By the time trails are "posted and enforced" it will be too late. Now is the time to get these trails put into the official plan so we don't get to that point.

The problem as I understand it is that any trails that are not identified in the management plan will be closed. None of the trails on the NE mesa or deer canyon are currently identified, nor are a number of other connectors. So we are past the point where we can rely on staying under the radar as a means to maintain access. LPQ is not a remote area up in the hills, its an island surrounded by residential and commercial development in the middle of the city.

That is why we need to map it and provide the info to the city. Right now its believed the city & consultants used satellite or aerial photos (probably outdated ones at that) to identify trails rather than getting out in the field to find & map them. If we provide them with a lot of info they will have little excuse not to incorporate it. Then it becomes a matter of working as part of the process to keep as many trails as possible. One thing is clear - if we try to pretend those trails don't exist then eventually they won't exist (for real).

 

Well I'm very sorry I couldn't make the meeting, glad it was some what effective and I really hope that we can keep these great trails open. I haven't been around as long as some of you guys, but I am really bummed about the HUGE loss of trails up on Del Mar mesa this year and am hoping to see the Tunnels and the likes stay open to us for some time.

 

New deputy director of open space?

WHOA!

Now is the time to start beating on that door for the thousands and thousands and thousands of acres of untouched land with incredible trail potential out there in the eastern edge of the city.

I honestly believe the time is approaching where we will all need to look at things and decide what to surrender and what to work toward building.

Vernal pools, endangered dwarf trees & private property will be hard to hold.

Open space, untouched with loads of potential, while rocky, hot, hilly and dusty may be the best focus for the futures.

I will say that from my standpoint, your efforts in the LPQ area are appreciated and you are doing a fine job.

 

Okay, two reasons I had to resurrect this thread:

1) New Reports of Vandal/Trimming in the Tunnels. Right after we discuss them and a MAP of them falls into the hands of non-riders, a new batch of alleged tree-trimming and such is reported. You've probably read about it.

What can you do? Pay attention when you're out there. LOOK for trimmers and frankly, equestrians where you know they can't fit. Ride with your digital camera or cell-cam handy and take photos of them as you admonish them to cut it the hell out! POST the photos and your descriptions here, and SEND the photos to me if you like.

2) Update on what you can do regarding the RMP: use your GPS and map out the trails you use. Take some time to ride/map out the trails you don't. Code them in color on an aerial overlay and save it as a BMP or JPG, then use the PM or email system to contact those working on these issues: Mike Maio (SDMBA), Dean Kirby (MTC and LPCP-CAC), Rob Mikuteit (OG MTB) or me (MTC, LPCP-CAC).

If you're up to speed on impacts studies related to multiuse trail users (bike/hike/hoof), or you're understanding of the habitat/resources aspects of Resource Management Plans, please D/L the RMP from the links in this thread or posted on MTC and MTBR and draft your comments with reference to pages and sections in the RMP. Then, see reference to email system, above.

The time is now. Don't fool yourself into thinking we're rebels that can't be stopped if we tune out and let the haters make the rules. Step up or buy rollerblades next year.

 

Ranger Assessment of "Tunnels" ongoing: Ranger Washington/assistants are walking/riding the tunnels trail systems, starting yesterday, to GPS-map the entire network, to assess the trails and to review allegations that new trails are being created in the canyon there. The review started yesterday, and you will see flags/ribbons tied on brush at trail entrances to indicate where they've surveyed already.

 

seriously? Rangers on private land

I am curious about city rangers surveying private property. They are cutting ranger staff at places like MTRP but other rangers have the time to tend to non-city property? WTF is that all about?

Then again, I am sort of curious about all the complaining of branches being cut yet obstacle building (that is obviously for MTB's) continues.

Meh, Im stirring the pot again but I've said it before, I will say it again. If anything kills the tunnels, it will not be the equestrians. It will be the message boards, the pictures and the constant draw of attention to the area.

 

Found this thread a little late for the meeting.

Sent in a letter to Kristy.

Some interesting points brought up by ocd-

Maybe I missed it, is it that the park commission is cutting off access to tunnels, or tunnels itself? I was under the assumption, like ocd, that tunnels is on private property. Is the parks commission looking to acquire this land?

Not to mention all the new housing projects that have taken down the last remaining single-track trails such as intestines, and a few beautiful trees in the process.

Let's hope not if mapping is mandatory.


Do you think it would be beneficial to secure legal advice in this matter, or is that already ongoing?

Sorry to come so late to the party.

 

After yeoman's work by Rob Mikuteit to document, record and map all the
trails within the Del Mar Mesa RMP area, we have a draft trails plan
concept prepared for the entire area to be discussed at the September
18th CAC meeting set for 6:00pm (not 7) at the Canyonside Rec Center (not the ranch house).

It will be prepared for public consumption ASAP. The important thing to know is that the battle for
trails access in these areas unfortunately starts from the basis set by
the author(s) of the draft RMP: NO TRAILS OTHER THAN THE UTILITY ROAD.

The opposite extreme is "any and all trails that are there now", and my
position is that neither extreme is appropriate, responsible or
acceptable. So, we have endeavored to draw up a trails plan that
provides loops, access and -- where possible-- Full Multiuse Access for
all non-motorized trail users. This plan will also embody the
eradication/closure of many trails in the Deer Canyon area. Some of
these trails are obviously junk, others are "wonderful", but all are
less than the number of trails that the opponents of trail access will
argue should be close (ie less than all) and it's important that we
never relinquish our high-ground: we are the guardians of the preserve
and the resources, rather than the anti-trail, "fence it all off" crowd.

Please schedule your attendance at the CAC meeting into your calendar,
now. Our goal will be to voice our overwhelming community support for
an engineered trails system for runners, cyclists and equestrians that
will be sustainable, useful and enable San Diegans to access the habitat
and environmental amenities that we pay for with our tax dollars. It's
not about "recreation" but rather "public access to open space".
Please reach out to your neighbors, co-workeers and more: let them know
you'll be coming to them with a request that they FAX and Phone local
leaders and City staff in support of trails access for our kids,
families and future.

Go time is coming as fast as we can get there.

 

BIKE Maga article on the Tunnels Controversy

http://bikemag.com/features/onlineex...rsy/index.html

 

Fed & State Agencies weigh in

The US Fish & Wildlife Service and California Dept. of Fish & Game were both present at the September 2008 public hearing where the longstanding network of migrant-worker trails were discussed, the environmental trails community recommended closure of over 65% percent of the trails and provided the ONLY environmental analysis of trails related to impacts (not even the City did that). It was also revealed that these two agencies have been asleep at the wheel for decades of 4x4 off-road activity, dumping, residencies and more.

The City of San Diego told us they have presented a Trails Plan to the agencies for review prior to the DMM RMP being revised. The agencies responded on February 27th and a copy of the letter was sent to the Multiuse Trails Coalition, since we are an interested organization and have been following up on the process since July, when we asked for a comprehensive review of the longstanding trails network in Deer Canyon and upon the Del Mar Mesa.

The letter is not good. If you're a member of the MTC, you've already received an email telling you it can be downloaded from the Yahoo Group. If you hate the environment and trails, you're gonna have to get it elsewhere.

The agencies write that they, "have recently been made aware by City staff and the public that unauthorized trails have been apparently created, mainly by and for mountain bikers, throughout the Del Mar Mesa Preserve and to a lesser extent in the Carmel Mountain Preserve." They continue, "...illegal creation and current high density of bike trails is incompatible with the main purpose of the Preserves (i.e. biological preservation) and must be curtailed and corrected".

You might find these assertions fly in the face with the known facts, the public record and your own personal knowledge, and you might find them suspiciously consistent with the misinformation published and professed by particular anti-access, anti-environmental groups known to approve the bulldozing of habitat and trails on the Del Mar Mesa. Draw your own conclusions but, note also that the City staff have either been wrongly quoted by these agencies, or they also perpetrated the same misinformation they know to be erroneous and misleading.

Assume the best, prepare for the worst.

Note that the City hasn't responded to the letter, and we have yet to see the redrawn DMM RMP that just might include a trails system... or just might include total closure with SWAT teams led by seasoned chainsaw teams from the Del Mar Mesa. We don't know yet.

Assume the best, prepare for the worst.

Next on the agenda: public meetings YOU can attend to voice your opinion. I'll work with the SDMBA to get something together we can all do, and if you're active in the MTC, you can use that site to strategize outside the view of the vandals who've figured out how to find coolest MTB site in Orange County...

 

Yes, revealed.

Wow, look back over the course of this thread, and the mega-version on empty-beer: you'll see a lot of detail in between the rantings.

Well, the title of this thread has come to fruition: the revised DMM RMP has been posted to the City website as PDFs for downloading. Although it includes the CMM RMP sections, only the DMM sections have been revised since the last time we've seen it. The Public Comment Period will be reopened, until the beginning of March 2010.

There will be a public notice email this week. Among other things, it will tell you the link page for all twenty-eight PDF segments is:

http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/mscp/

If you'd like to get a look at the document, you may download it, now.

Members of the Multiuse Trails Coalition are already discussing details on that site (closed to malicious eyes) and there are excerpt/map downloads available there.

 

Yes, the City's plans for the Del Mar Mesa and Tunnels will be revealed.

Over three years later and yes, the City plans to reveal their Trails Plan in a public meeting this month, October, at the Parkview Elementary School. The time and date are not yet firmed. It will be in the evening on a weeknight.

At that time, the City and/or agencies (if they show up) will present their final plan to the public as a fait accompli and one that you cannot change because "they've done all they can do". However, unless the plan changes radically from one they've been asking various planning boards to approve with the least amount of discussion possible, you will find the plan to be lacking in terms of mileage, connectivity and utility for outdoorsmen and other such nature lovers. You may be surprised to learn they've apparently found money for spy cameras, enforcement rangers and a citation program, though.

New features not shown on the maps most recently posted in the MTBR thread include Closure also for the Duck Pond Trail many old timers know as The Shitz (as was in the 2008 plan!). Note that such idiocy will concentrate legal riders into even less trail-space (such as Cobblestone) and will then be used by kooks to justify a run to close those trails to you, also, on the basis that there are too many families on bikes on the trail and that the rest of you outlaws are riding on longstanding trails they've just closed down. Tails you lose, Heads they win.

Were you there in 2008, at the meeting in the Rec Center? How about the 2009 meeting at the elementary school? The format will be similar to those, and the very best thing you could do as a mountainbiker would be to bring 2-10 people you know, dressed for business or work, and be adamant, firm and vocal regarding your feelings and concerns over the trails plan, whatever those may be.

Press will be in attendance. If 150-250 of you "citizens" are, too, then the politicos will have far less stomach for a rubber stamp on this junk and you may get calls for the City to revisit the goofy stance taken by CDFW and the City regarding trails access in this area. Note: Carl DeMaio is on the Task Force and he's running for Mayor. Pam Slater Price is on the Task Force and is retiring -- those who seek to succeed her might perceive public interest in this topic to be important. Nathan Fletcher is aware of the issues, and is running for Mayor. Sherrie Lightner is on the Task Force and is responsive to constituents that speak up and show up (mostly kooky anti-trails types so far).

So, do you have riding crews, riding organizations, church groups, exercise groups at work, a mailing list of buddies, neighbors and more? October will be your last chance to use them on this issue.

 

The public meeting is two, really:

The first is the open CAC meeting, and the second is the Task Force meeting the next day, during the work day, downtown.

Public CAC meeting:

Wednesday October 19 7:00 to 9:00 pm,
at Park Village Elementary (Multipurpose Room/Auditorium)
7930 Park Village Road
San Diego, CA 92129

The detailed agenda will be available early next week. But here (subject to revision) the items to be covered:

a. City Presentation of draft
b. Public Comments/Presentations
c. Consideration of surrounding community board's
letters of opinion.
d. CAC Board comments
e. Board vote(s) on draft.

Items a-d will be information.
Item e will be action.

 

At this evening's CAC meeting for Los Penasquitos, the committee voted 7-6 to approve the Del Mar Mesa Trails (Closure) Plan, which formally closes more than 85% of the existing trails and specifically excludes the east-west connectors, either through the CDFW land or using Tunnel 3-to-2 to connect across the southerly side of the area. Well over one hundred members of the community were present and not one, other than particular members of the CAC, spoke in favor of the resource management plan, but many spoke publicly out of concern that this plan represents a current and pending failure in land and resource preservation.


The many who oppose this plan believe it is inadequate to protect the habitat and provide public access to diminishing open space, in that it doesn't provide appropriate trails for public access and will result in the criminalization of the public who overwhelmingly oppose the level of trail closures. Note that THERE ARE NO NEW TRAILS, but this is about how many we close. This plan is two trails short and with those two trails will have far less “Trail per acre” than the Carmel Mountain Preserve.


Tomorrow, City staff will represent to the LPQ Task Force (Lighter, DeMaio, Slater-Price) that the CAC has approved the plan and that the Del Mar Mesa, Carmel Valley and Penasquitos community planning boards have also. In the case of the planning boards, their published minutes establish otherwise: they voted NO UNLESS an East-West Connector was added. None has been.


If you believe the DMM Resource management Plan should be rejected by the City Council members and County Supervisor who comprise the “Task Force”, then you must take the following actions, NOW:

1. FAX and Call each of: Carl DeMaio, Sherrie Lightner, Pam Slater-Price, Mayor Sanders and the Union Tribune before 1:00pm tomorrow, October 20[SUP]th[/SUP]. FAX is better than email these days. LIGHT UP THE PHONES.
2. Come to the Task Force public meeting, tomorrow October 20[SUP]th[/SUP] at 2pm, downtown, and voice your opinion. Be concise and polite, but firm and honest.
3. Get as many persons as you can to do the same.
4. Look for a report on the Task Force's action and prepare to continue contacts.

The address for the Task Force Meeting is the room right next to City Council Chambers, located at:


12[SUP]th[/SUP] Floor, Room A
202 C Street
San Diego, 92101


The meeting starts at 2pm. Parking is available in the Concourse and in nearby Ace lots. You must have cash for the concourse.


The contact points for you are:


Sherrie Lightner, Council District 1
Phone: (619) 236-6611
From North County:
(858) 484-3808
Fax: (619) 236-6999
Email Sherri:
[email protected]



Carl DeMaio, Council District 5
Telephone: (619) 236-6655
Fax: (619) 238-0915
Email: [email protected]v



Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, County District 3
t: (619) 531-5533
(800) 852-7334
f: (619) 234-1559



Mayor Jerry Sanders
Phone: (619) 236-6330
Fax: (619) 236-7228
[email protected]

 

Park & Rec hearing, Nov. 17th

The next hearing on this trails plan is this Thursday, at 2:00 in the middle of the work day, at City Hall.

The staff report for the Park & Rec Board hearing is available online as a 15-page PDF. If you're coming, and if you're writing letters, you want to read this in advance. It's what the committee members have received.

STAFF REPORT HERE And the AGENDA is HERE.. The address for you to attend, is on the agenda.

Quick review of the report is on the MTC site.

 

It was a conference call from Ranger Rick Thompson and Open Space Director Chris Zirkle, in 2008, that gave us first notice of the City's plan to close down the Del Mar Mesa. We were already in the process of reviewing trails, we'd had public meetings. The trails community had come together, acting as stewards of our open space with days organized to clean refuse from migrant camps (that we would later learn had been totally fabricated or imagined) and in outrage over vandalism of the trail system. We felt like we had a voice and a righteous one.

"A temporary closure, perhaps for six months" sounded to me like a sucker's bet. I protested that it would be a slap in the face to the community and that it would exact a terrible price in good will and trust between the pro-trails environmental community and the land managers. I voiced my concern that the closure would last far more than six months.&nb sp; All that came true, sadly.

However, tomorrow, August 22, 2015, the Del Mar Mesa Trail System is officially open. 80 months later, the trails officially open. Here's the announcement, just delivered by Chris Zirkle after a phone call:

"Please be advised that the trails approved by the City Council on Carmel Mountain and Del Mar Mesa will be open for use tomorrow. Maps will be posted at kiosks.

On the Del Mar Mesa map, as shown below, trails opened by the Council action are shown in black and white. Trails shown in black and red are NOT open due to private property and/or the need for Coastal Commission approval. Maps will be updated once further clearances are obtained.

For Carmel Mountain, all trails appear the same on the map and all are open.

The Council action also included biological habitat restoration on a number of areas previously used for recreational activities. Ranger staff have installed brush, signs, and fences at the access points to these locations. Please respect these access controls along with the ones installed at the Coastal Zone boundary and report any inappropriate behavior to Park Ranger staff."


Get out there and ride!

 

Nice! Hoping to take a trip down to SD soon...