LAH pathways - what pathways?

A few weeks ago, the Town Crier began investigating claims that Los Altos Hills residents were obstructing or obliterating public trails to keep pathway users away from their properties.

The first case that received media attention was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s property where a locked gate blocks a public path. The council directed staff last month to send a letter requesting the gate be removed after neighbors complained.

Although not under lock and key, there appear to be other paths that are not being maintained or monitored by the town and in some cases no longer exist even though they are shown on the 2004-05 Master Pathway Map.

The town seems to have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to pathways and will not look into a pathway problem unless a resident makes a complaint. In one case, the town is not maintaining a path on town-owned land that connects homes near the Baleri Ranch Road neighborhood to Page Mill Road. There is no sign of a connecting path beside two posts marked “pathway” on a nearby residential property.

More than a month ago, the Town Crier requested a draft copy of the 2004 Master Pathway Map that was made available to residents last fall. The city said the map is not finished and will not be given out until it has been completed. That could be months or even a year as the council, upon approving the map in March, sent it back to the pathways committee to work out problem areas.

Meanwhile, upon walking the Baleri Ranch Road neighborhood, the Town Crier found three cases of obliterated trails, two along residential properties, another on town-owned land. These findings came after walking only a few trails. There are approximately 60 miles of trail in Los Altos Hills. How many paths have become so overgrown that they no longer exist?

The irony here, of course, is that town officials have been working hard for years to update an off-road pathways map. They even reportedly had a professional hiker walk all the trails to verify accuracy. However, what is becoming clear is that many off-road pathways are not - clear, that is.

A main argument of detractors has been that most off-road pathways are hardly ever used. This has apparently led some residents to pretend they don’t exist.

The town has very little set aside in its budget for pathways maintenance. It’s apparent that the town’s parks and recreation department should establish a volunteer trail crew to maintain the trails and appoint someone to walk and keep track of trails that have been neglected or purposely obstructed.