News

City urged to rethink rail trail project

By Patrick Adrian [email protected]
CLAREMONT — City councilors want to reevaluate the current Rail Trail development along Washington Street after hearing concerns about public safety and the negative impact on a long-existing local business.

A city project to create separation between a recreational trail alongside Washington Street and vehicle traffic is 80% complete, according to Mark Brislin, city Parks and Recreation director. The project, using funds from the federal Recreational Trails Grant program, is placing guard rails, split-rail fencing and bollards along the trail corridor to delineate between the trail, the street and commercial properties.

The city is also trying to remedy a problem at 297-299 Washington St., the location of Maurice’s Auto-Truck and Trailer, a vehicle rental owned by Mike Hurd.

For several years the lack of delineation between the trail and the company’s lot has resulted in vehicles being parked directly on the trail or travelers on Washington Street treating the trail as an access road to circumvent traffic, according to City Manager Ed Morris. Under federal guidelines for the trails grant, the city is responsible to keep motorized vehicles off the trail, which is only permitted for pedestrian use or bicycles.

“That Washington Street section is by far the most dangerous section, with cars coming in and out [of the parking lot],” Morris told the council on Thursday.

Hurd told the council that he likes the new bollards and fencing overall except for the section in front of his offices and his driveway. The project left spaces in the guardrailing to allow for two entries into Hurd’s driveway. But the entries can be tight for large vehicles, sometimes causing the driver to move into the center lane of Washington Street to make a right-hand turn into the property.

“We’re not talking about just cars,” Hurd told the council. “We’re talking tractor trailers and [recreational vehicles].”

The bigger issue may be the reduction in Hurd’s driveway. For many years Hurd has kept his vehicle stock on land along the Rail Trail that actually belongs to the city. If Hurd had to move his stock off the property he would be unable to operate.

“We normally have 50 to 75 units sitting on this property that we sell.” Hurd said. “If I have to move 20 of these units into what we use as a driveway we won’t be able to move and we’ll be out of business.”

Morris asked the council to allow the city to license the land, approximately a .17-acre plot, to Hurd. Hurd would be able to keep his rental units on the land and in turn pay a property tax on the land’s assessed value.

“Right now I don’t have the authority to give Mr. Hurd permission to use this portion of property and this shouldn’t have been allowed this long without some sort of license or lease in place,” Morris said.

Councilors indicated that they would be willing to license the land to Hurd, which they will discuss at their next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

However, several councilors said they are still concerned about the trail’s design and impact on Hurd’s business.

“We are limiting what a business or company can do that has been there longer than I have been alive,” Councilor Abigail Kier said. “We don’t want to limit businesses in our city. It’s great when we get new businesses but we also want to make sure we’re having good relationships with the businesses we already have.”

Kier said she also worries about the difficult turns into Hurd’s business or waiting on Washington Street to pull into the driveway.

“Do we safeguard this small portion of the trail or do we put forward the safety of our drivers?” Kier asked.

Morris explained that the city’s initial trail plan was to construct behind Hurd’s property but time constraints to spend the grant money made that plan unfeasible.

Councilors plan to individually visit the site before their next meeting so they can discuss options to improve the trail design. The council also said they wish to hear from the Parks and Recreation planning committee that finalized the plan to understand the reasoning and factors behind their approved plan.

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