Oak Ridge council declines developer request to close Ashford trail easement, approves pause on development

The Town of Oak Ridge on June 6 declined a request by property owners to remove an 8-foot public trail easement running through the Ashford subdivision and instead directed staff and stakeholders to pause development of the easement for 17 months with a check-in at 12 months.

A packed public hearing drew about 20 people to speak for and against the easement. Supporters of removing the easement argued it was never legally accepted by the town and that the trail alignment intrudes on existing backyards; opponents and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) committee said the easement is a valuable local connection and urged council to keep it while an alternative alignment is developed.

The matter surfaced in detail during public testimony and legal argument. Patrick Haywood, an attorney who addressed the council, argued the easement had been rescinded before the local government ever formally accepted it and cited North Carolina precedent interpreting municipal acceptance for dedications. Haywood summarized his position: “it was never accepted.” Jonathan DeLine, who said he spoke for the Bear Creek homeowners association, told the council the neighborhood opposes the current easement location and said residents had negotiated with MST for an alternate route that would run in the woods and connect to Summerfield and the Piedmont Trail.

Opponents to closing the easement included Stephanie Farrell of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail committee, who said the Ashford easement is part of a network of developer-granted easements that already provide about 1.13 miles of trails in Oak Ridge and warned that removing the easement would set a precedent that endangers other public trail easements. MST volunteers and trail-builders, including Mike Kimball and Joel Deaton, described multiple built trail segments and said the committee had offered to work with neighbors on reroutes, landscaping and bridge solutions.

Town attorney Michael Thomas told the council the town’s land-development ordinance contemplates acceptance at the time of administrative plat approval and that case law and state planning statutes bear on the question; he advised council that the easement remains in effect under the town’s ordinances unless the council takes other action.

After discussion councilmember motions produced two formal actions. A motion to grant the developer’s request and close the Ashford trail easement failed on a council voice vote. Later the council approved an amended motion directing staff to refrain from development of the Ashford easement for 17 months, with a formal check-in at 12 months and a final report at 17 months, to give the parties time to negotiate an alternate alignment and pursue funding and permitting for any required structures.

Council members who spoke said they were balancing neighbors’ privacy concerns with the town’s long-term connectivity and land-use policies. Several councilmembers urged the MST committee and the Bear Creek neighbors to continue working together and noted the town has no immediate funding for the substantial bridge and construction work that would be required to build the existing alignment.

What’s next: the easement remains in place and the council’s pause does not remove the easement; it directs staff to report back under the timetable the council set. The MST committee said it will continue outreach to Summerfield and to impacted property owners to pursue a wooded reroute and potential grant funding for bridges and trail construction.

For reference, the Town of Oak Ridge public hearing rules were followed (20 minutes in favor, 20 minutes in opposition, five-minute rebuttals).