SPRINGDALE : Spring Creek trail plans scrapped
Posted on Sunday, July 27, 2008
SPRINGDALE — Facing opposition from landowners, the city Trails Committee last week backed off on plans for a path along Spring Creek.
The panel decided instead to focus on paths north of Oak Avenue.
Alderman Kathy Jaycox, leading the push to link Springdale with other area cities via paved trails, said she would rather pursue other locations for a downtown trail than to squabble with residents who threatened to sue the city over the latest plan.
“It’s what I anticipated hearing from the property owners,” said Jaycox, referring to the objections expressed July 21 when she met with Spring Creek residents.
“For now, the trail will not work in this location,” she said.
The Trails Committee wants to build a paved path from northwest Springdale to downtown and hopes the city will pay for the project through a matching grant from the Walton Family Foundation in Bentonville.
It’s time for the committee to regroup and refocus, Jaycox said. Meanwhile, the property owners who thwarted plans for the trail’s southern segment don’t plan to change their minds.
“Just leave me alone,” said Gilbert Smith, who lives on the east side of the creek just north of Huntsville Avenue.
Smith’s property borders the creek — home to herons, ducks and kingfishers. He said he and his wife purchased their land because the house is an original — not a “cookie cutter” — and the 0. 7-acre plot offers seclusion.
“I bought my property because I wanted privacy,” Smith said. “If you build the trail, I lose my privacy. That’s a lot to give up.”
Smith’s wife, Teresa, said the Trails Committee didn’t put a lot of thought into the decision to build a path along the back side of properties on Spring Creek.
“What were they thinking ?” she asked as she walked along the creek. She pointed to a group of ducks as she sniffed a sprig of wild mint.
“The balance of nature would change if this were public access,” she said.
Other property owners along the creek said such a trail would result in an increase in litter and petty crime. They fear their pets and livestock would be subjected to taunts from children and drunks.
A CITY RESOURCE Springdale’s tentative plan for the trail was for it to run from Stultz and Pump Station roads in northwest Springdale along Spring Creek to downtown. A map from the Planning Department shows the trail affecting as many as 76 commercial and residential properties. Alderman Jim Reed, who also met with landowners on July 21, said he understood the frustrations expressed by those whose properties would be affected. But he said they need to think about how the trail could enhance Springdale’s image. “I understand you, and I hear you,” Reed said to residents at the meeting. “But what I hear is, ‘What about me ?’ But what about the city ?
“ I think the trail is going to be great for Springdale.”
Each of the largest cities in Benton and Washington counties have trails.
Fayetteville features a comprehensive trail network, and Rogers and Bentonville also have substantial systems. Springdale has the smallest trail system, but it does have a publicly funded trail around Lake Springdale.
The ultimate goal for area trail enthusiasts is for Fayetteville and Bella Vista to be connected by foot and bike paths, said Bob Norwood of the Bentonville / Bella Vista Trailblazers Association.
Springdale seems to be the linchpin to fulfill that dream.
The Walton Family Foundation grant could be for as much as $ 1 million, but for the foundation to disburse funds, Springdale and private donors, each must match it in either cash or in-kind services.
Thus far, Springdale has only managed to find $ 83, 000 for the trail project.
“If we don’t use it, we lose it,” Jaycox said.
Rogers, however, reached its challenge grant for trails offered by the Walton foundation. From 2005 to 2007, Rogers raised $ 2 million in a combination of public money and private inkind donations and in return received a $ 1 million grant from the foundation. “Anytime you can leverage yourself with that kind of cash, you go for it,” Rogers Treasurer Jerry Hudlow said. Rogers officials have built three miles of trails with the grant money so far and plan to build another eight. Their goal is linking the city through trails from north to south and providing pedestrian access to the Pinnacle Hills Promenade shopping center. Most of the trail development in Rogers is in and around new development, not in the downtown core east of U. S. 71 Business, said Rick Stocker, the city’s director of parks and recreation.
NEIGHBORS OPPOSED Some of the strongest opposition to the proposed Springdale trail site was voiced by Carol Kendrick, owner of the Magnolia Gardens Inn, a bedand-breakfast on Main Street.
“If you take it up the creek, I will fight you tooth and toenail,” Kendrick told Jaycox and Reed on July 21. “Leave the creek alone.”
The creek meanders along the eastern boundary of Kendrick’s 17-acre property, which features trees and gardens, a manicured lawn, a historic home and fountains.
Frequently used for weddings, her inn would lose much of its appeal if a trail lining the property with a barbed-wire fence ran alongside the creek, Kendrick said.
Both Kendrick and the Smiths said they will sue to stop a trail along Spring Creek.
Kendrick said she and her husband, Bill, wouldn’t oppose the trail if it were on the western boundary of their property along Shiloh Street. The Smiths said they feel the same.
Gary Brandon, a member of the Trails Committee, said at the July 21 meeting that people who use trails, like the one around Lake Springdale, are “quality people.”
Ron Mynatt, another committee member, spoke in support of more trails.
Volunteers could form cleanup patrols to keep trails litter free, Mynatt said, and with cyclists and joggers frequently using a trail, there wouldn’t be much criminal activity.
Kendrick said Mynatt was “whistling Dixie.”
Craig and Donna Campbell, who own nine acres along Spring Creek west of U. S. 71, joined the Smiths and Kendricks in opposing the trail.
Craig Campbell warned that as elected officials change and budgets are trimmed, Springdale’s trails will fall into neglect.
“The city makes a lot of big promises at first,” he said. “But then it gets taken out of the budget.”
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
