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Member urges adding ‘look-before-relinquish’ language to general plan to convert canals and ditches into trails
Summary
A committee member proposed adding brief language in the county general plan to require officials to evaluate abandoned canals and ditches for potential conversion to walking and biking trails before rights-of-way are relinquished.
A committee member proposed adding short, targeted language to the county general plan asking staff to evaluate abandoned ditches and canals as potential walking and biking trails before those easements are relinquished to private owners.
Speaker 3 said the plan currently notes that easement and right-of-way ownership is poorly understood and that relinquishment can create liability and maintenance issues; he suggested inserting roughly 10 words in the plan to signal the county should consider reuse for trails before giving up rights-of-way. “We should put a statement in the plan…that before they relinquish, look at the possibility of using them for trails,” Speaker 3 said.
Members discussed liability concerns and agreed the general plan can flag the idea without resolving legal specifics. Speaker 7 noted the general plan does not need to solve every detail: “You don’t have to have all the specifics figured out for the general plan; you can just say that those ditches and canal right of ways could be considered for the trail system.” The group agreed to review and submit suggested wording for staff and legal review.
