CC 3-19-19 Oral Communications �� 3fri�l �
Request of City Staff for 65% Design Review of Regnart Creek Trail ���L `����
The 65% design, which is expected to be brought forward in May, should addre�� the
most difficult engineering challenges fir�t.
The most challenging is�ues for the propo�ed Regnart Creek Trail include:
1 ) Attaining a resolution for Lozano Lane residents where the trail alignment runs in
front of residential dwelling units.
2) Observing minimum setback requirements from property line and fences to public
path behind La Mar Drive and De Palma Lane
3) Re-sloping the path behind Lamar so that run off is captured in trenching at fihe
base of neighbor's fences in a way that will not undermine tho�e fences or flaod
backyards.
4) Ensuring the Site Distance Triangle a� required by AASH1"O guidelines is
enforced at frail crossings on major intersections like �laney, E Estates and
Pacifica.
s) Ensuring that the removable bridges behind La M�r be designed sensibly and
with respect to metai fatigue and the inevitable issues that arise when temporary
structures no longer fit back togeth�r aft�r repeated removal & reassembly.
Sinee the Regn�rt trail alignment has severe con�traints and challenges, we request
fihe council to direct the City stafF t� bring Alt�rnate 4 in the feasibility study that us��
on-street fa�ilities along with Alter�afie 1 �t �5% design review in May.
The resolution 18-081 which approved Regnar� Creek Feasiblity study in August 201�
does no� preclude the cify fram bringing multiple design alternatives to the council.
Our request fio you is simple. Pleas� �n�ure that established �afety guidelines and
requirements are followed, and treat the adjacent neighbor� fairly. Bring multiple
afternatives to the council in IVlay for consideration. We are the ones who will be mo�t
affected by this path 24/7, but see little to no reason to use it ourselves. Thank you.
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March 19, 2013
Mayor Scharf, Council Members and Staff
My name is Gary Wong, a 21 year resident of Cupertino
I have several remarks pertaining to the Regnart Creek Trail.
1. At the last City Council Meeting, I made several remarks pertaining to the
differences of the Approved Feasibility Study for the Regnart Creek Trail
and the Final Study posted on the City's Website. A few days later, the
Final Study was removed from the City's website with no explanation. I
want to ask why it was removed and if there is any significance to this
action. Does this mean the approved draft dated August 21, 2018 the
governing document?
2. The Joint User of the Regnart Creek Trail, the land owner, the Santa Clara
Valley Water District expressed its preference for Alternative 4. There is a
Trail Walk scheduled on Saturday, March 30th. This Trail Walk should also
include Alternative 4 and not just Alternative 1. The public should receive
a fair and balanced view of the options under consideration.
3. Lastly, at several Council meetings, it was mentioned that the Trail will
improve safety and home values. I am submitting an editorial from the
Seattle Times, which reports of 20 year study conducted by The National
Association of Reversionary Property Owners. The study, conducted over
20 years, involved 330 properties bordering the Burke-Gilman Trail. They
studied the assessed values bordering this trail and found homes along
the trail appreciated 26% while the average properties in King County
went up 325%. Further, the slower growth in property values of the
homes along the trail resulted in a $50 million reduction from the tax rolls
to the City and County. This loss in tax revenue was made up by higher
taxes to the other residents in the County.
4. The same study reported, and the Seattle Police Department confirmed,
that crime rates were higher for those homes along the trail.
With tens of millions of dollars potentially allocated to City trails, the
practicality of the proposed trails, and the cost— benefits thereof, merit serious
consideration in light of the many competing needs for city projects and
available financial resources that will be discussed tonight.
3/16/2019 Trails boost crime,reduce value
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Saturday March 16, 2019
Trails boost crirr�e, reduce value
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Editorial by Richard Welsh '
Special to The Times
THE Seattle Times' niain editorial of Sept. 24, 1999 "East Lake Sammamish's rocky
rail-to-trail ride" made a few bold statements with absolutely no factual basis for the
statements. The editorial states that property values will be enhanced by having a
trail next to the properties and "Peeping Toms" and crimes will not occur because of
the trail's proximity.
Both of these statements are patently false.
The National Association of Reversionary Property Owners (NARPO), a nationwide
nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving property rights and land values,
conducted a 20-year comprehensive study on the property values of the 330 pieces of
property bordering the Burke-Gilman Trail. Property values from King County
assessment records in the years 1978, 1988 and 1997 were used to see if there was
a correlation between the assessed values on the properties bordering the Burke-
Gilman Trail, the properties nearby, as well as other similar non-trail properties on
Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish.
The studies show the values of the properties bordering the Burke-Gilman trail only
increased 26 percent between 1978 and 1988, while the average properties in King
County went up 325 percent. The other properties on Lake vl��sl�iir�qtc�n and those on
Lake Sammamish rose an average of 210 percent. Between 1988 and 1997, the
properties bordering the Burke-Gilman Trail only increased 99 percent while the
average King County assessment increased 105 percent and the other properties on
Lake Washington and those on Lake Sammamish went up 140 percent. Meanwhile,
the properties just uphill from the trail rose 113 percent and 137 percent,
respectively.
What the slower growth of assessed property value along the Burke-Gilman Trail has
cost the city and county taxpayers these past ZO years is substantial. It appears that
$50 million a year in assessed value is reduced from the tax rolls due to the property
value reduction caused by the trail. This equates to $750,000 in actual taxes other
King County taxpayers are picking up each year to keep the bike trail open to the 0.3
of 1 percent of citizens who use the trail. The numbers will be the same or greater
along the proposed Lake Sammamish bike trail because there are more homes along
Lake Sammamish.
The correlation is quite clear that being next to the Burke-Gilman Trail severely
reduces the property values of the unfortunate 330 property owners along the trail.
The question, then, is why property values are reduced or increase less than other
properties nearby. Two issues stand out that reduce the property values: crime and
having to cross the trail to get to the homes. �
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�http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/2010/Dec/trails_boost_crime.html ��2 I
3/16/2019 Trails boost crime,reduce value
The crime rate is certainly a valid concern. Earlier this year, Sgt. Dick Hume of the
Seattle Police Department testified before the Kirkland Planning Department on a
proposed bike trail along the railroad tracks going through Kirkland. Sgt. Hume's job
is to analyze crime �-ecords as they come into the police department. Sgt. Hume
stated at the Kirkland hearing: "There are higher rates of theft and vandalism along
the Burke-Gilman Trail." Sgt. Hume also testified at the hearing that the area along
the Burke-Gilman Trail experienced a higher crime rate than other comparable
neighborhoods.
A quick search of The Seattle Times and Eastside Journal reveals four murders and
two attempted murders along the trail, numerous sexual exposure incidents, two
rapes, three body-dumping cases, and numerous other thefts, vandalism and scrapes
between property owners and bikers. And this is only since 1989.
It got so bad that in 1991, King County and Seattle had to institute 24-hour police
bicycle patrols along the Burke-Gilman Trail; yet, since 1991, there have been three
murders and hundreds of other reported crimes along the trail.
The Seattle Times reported on June 29, 1991, regarding the need for the bicycle
patrols: "Burglars are suspected of using the trail to approach targeted homes and
women. . . ."
There is a good chance that if the Burke-Gilman was not there, the four people
murdered on the trail would be alive today.
Just last week, a transient riding on a bike trail came off the trail next to Newport
Shores in Bellevue, broke into a home and used a baseball bat to severely assault a
woman in her home. He was caught while riding away with her jewelry hanging out of
his pockets.
And let us not forget the needless death last fall of a woman using the Cedar Ri��ex:
Trail in Maple Valley. A transient stalked women using the trail; after making two
unsuccessful attempts at rape and murder, he encountered a woman who could not
get away. It appears she was raped and then her throat was slit.
The Seattle Times editorial staff needs to recognize family safety, privacy and
property values are valid and important issues regarding the proposed bike trail along
East Lake Sammamish. You do your readers a great disservice by dismissing these
issues as nonexistent.
Richard Welsh is executive director of the Bellevue-based ���ae�r��l �s�w���t�s��a a��
Et�v�r�i�s��ry Pr��s�r��r ��r�e�•s (hl�ItP�},
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