FAYETTEVILLE -- City leaders, conservationists and neighbors hope to reach agreement over a proposed trail through a natural area.
The City Council on Tuesday will take up the overall transportation plan, which includes a map of proposed trail routes. A line that has been on the map since the plan's draft in 2003 caught neighbors' attention this summer.
The proposed Sublett Creek trail would connect a planned trail at Poplar Street east to another planned trail at North Street and Mission Boulevard. The route as proposed would run west of and through the southwest corner of the Brooks-Hummel nature area. It would continue south along Lakeridge Drive, just north of Lake Lucille.
The lake is owned by a property owners association. The city has owned nearly 14 acres of the nature area since 2007. It was placed under a conservation easement with the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association a year after that, meaning the land is protected from development.
City officials say a clause in the conservation easement allows them to build the trail through the preserve. However, conservationists and property owners say the clause was meant to allow dirt walking trails, not a major connecting route for pedestrians and bicycles.
The proposed link is on the trails plan, but the entire area is marked for study for different routes and types of trails. The Sublett Creek trail is among a list of bond projects that voters approved in April. The project is listed in the third phase of bond projects, meaning its construction would start in six years at the earliest.
City Attorney Kit Williams said that even if council members approve the trails plan Tuesday, it wouldn't change the Brooks-Hummel situation.
"We're putting off the problem. We're kicking the can down the road. We are not deciding this," he said. "We're giving ourselves some time so maybe they can study another possible way. If it's determined there isn't another reasonable way, then we'll certainly try to work out a negotiation and a compromise here."
Compromise means coming to a solution property owners and conservationists can agree on, Williams said. If no agreement can be made, the city reserves the right to condemn private property to build the trail, he said.
"That won't be a good solution," Williams said. "I hope we can do something much better than that."
ACCESS, CONNECTIVITY
The Brooks-Hummel preserve is part of a larger wooded area east of Evelyn Hills Shopping Center.
The city owns the 14 acres, but private property owners own wooded areas north, east and south of the preserve. A few homes line the west side between the preserve and shopping center. The preserve has two public access points, one on the north end of Hillcrest Avenue and another to the south at Hillcrest Avenue and Woodcrest Drive. First United Presbyterian Church allows access to the preserve on the east side from its private parking lot.
Access is a reason for the proposal, as is trail connectivity, said Matt Mihalevich, trails coordinator for the city. The idea is to create a path accessible to all ages and abilities, he said. Trail planners looked at other possible routes, but steep terrain and hills make many alternatives unfeasible, he said.
"I think there's an opportunity to provide access to this city park land, and also to do something that's really unique to our area," he said.
Mihalevich said the trail doesn't have to be the city's standard 12-foot-wide paved trail with lights. He envisioned boardwalks and piers over the foliage, tree roots or water. Its construction could be done piece by piece with small equipment such as a skid-steer loader, Mihalevich said.
"There are ways," he said. "There are cost implications of course, but this connection is important enough to invest into it from the trail funds and get the connection in as sensitively as possible."
Mihalevich said the city should commission an environmental study of the area. That would inform the conversation as the city, conservationists and property owners discuss options, he said.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Jennifer Ogle, president of the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, agreed that an environmental study should be done, and said the association could do the work. The area is home to old tree growth, deer, foxes and a diversity of plant life, she said.
The area suffers from an overgrowth of invasive plant species. Ogle said the association will make it a priority this year to remove those plants, which will help restore the ecology to its natural state.
A study should be done before the removal, and after, to gauge the status of life in the area, Ogle said. That process would take about three years, she said.
The city also should define the differences among a nature preserve, a conservation area and park land, and what is and isn't allowed in them, Ogle said. The association can help define those terms, she said.
Regardless, a trail is inappropriate for the area, Ogle said. Trails in natural areas, whether they're made of concrete, asphalt, gravel or wood, will fragment wildlife, she said, arguing that construction, even with small equipment, can cause irreparable damage.
The association recommends that shared-use trails provide access to natural areas, not go through them, Ogle said.
"This is a nature preserve, and it's been designated as such," she said. "So this is a special case where that type of trail should not be built in it."
ASSOCIATION CHIEF
Shay Hopper, president of the Lake Lucille Clay Yoe property association, said she and her neighbors want the original intent of the land agreement to be honored. The neighborhood wants public access to the land to be appropriate with its ecosystem, she said.
"It's so important for communities and cities of any size to preserve those unique places that are within the city limits, because they are so rare, and diminishing as we speak," Hopper said.
The benefits of a multiuse trail in the preserve wouldn't be worth the effect it would have on the wildlife there, Hopper said. A trail involving boardwalks may not be realistic because of the steep drop-offs within the preserve and costs associated with construction, she said.
Hopper said the property owners are trusting the city to follow up its promise of studying the area. A lot of questions about access, safety and environmental impact will have to be answered, she said.
The property owners' opposition to the trail is not about keeping people out of the neighborhood, Hopper said. Although Lake Lucille is separate, and privately owned, people should be able to enjoy Brooks-Hummel, just not to its detriment, she said.
"I have always had a very positive working and participatory relationship with the city," Hopper said. "My expectation, in my heart, is that will continue in this particular situation."
Metro on 01/06/2020
CORRECTION: Brooks-Hummel preserve in Fayetteville has two access points, one on the north end of Hillcrest Avenue and another to the south at Hillcrest Avenue and Woodcrest Drive. An earlier version of this story did not identify the northern entrance.