Woodside backpedals on trail swap Woodside backpedals on trail swap (November 17, 2004)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

A request to swap an old horse trail for a new one in Woodside has become as complicated as the town's meandering web of trails.

Local equestrians' passions were aroused when Bob and Anne Bass, along with two of their neighbors, decided to relocate a horse trail connecting Canada Road to Albion Avenue; the trail ran through their property at 1302 Canada Road.

Some felt the alternate trail constructed by the Basses was less scenic and less safe than the existing one; and many others felt exactly the opposite.

Back in May, the Town Council agreed to the swap, but only if the deal were sweetened to include a new trail easement across an adjoining property also owned by the Basses -- it would link up a section of the incomplete Dry Creek Trail, which runs north-south, roughly parallel to Canada Road.

The town already holds the easement to another link in the Dry Creek Trail, a north-south trail segment that links to the trail the Basses want to relocate.

A great deal of legal wrangling and billable hours later, the trail issue returned to the council on November 9. A terse letter from Joan Gallo, the Basses' attorney, was submitted in lieu of their testimony. In essence it said, swap the easements in an even trade and drop all the other conditions or we'll see you in court.

The conditions included submitting construction drawings of the new trail, posting a landscape maintenance bond, and repairing a nonconforming driveway that crosses the trail. They also call for the town to retain the existing Dry Creek Trail easement.

"These conditions are not only unreasonable but are decidedly arbitrary and will be challenged in court if need be," Ms. Gallo's letter states.

With little public comment, and even less council discussion, the Town Council voted to drop its request for the new Dry Creek Trail easement on the adjoining Bass property, as well as the landscape bond condition the Basses objected to.

However, the council didn't entirely acquiesce to the Basses' requests -- Woodside won't give up the existing Dry Creek Trail easement on the 1302 Canada Road property, and kept a few other conditions with minor changes.

The council voted 6-0 to rescind its previous decision and approve the trail swap, with Councilwoman Carroll Ann Hodges, a nearby property owner, recusing herself.

Council members met in closed session prior to the meeting to confer with Town Attorney Bob Lanzone about the Basses' existing legal action against the town, as well as discuss other existing and anticipated litigation.

The Basses have requested reams of correspondence by town officials regarding their trail, as well as correspondence on work done on their neighbors' property, including anything sent to council members' home e-mail accounts.

Town staff maintain that they can't turn over private correspondence because they don't possess it.

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