Foothills Sentry May 2021

Foothills Sentry May 2021 Page 15 Family. Friends. Community. We’re all in this together. State Farm, Bloomington, IL 1801073 Ron Esparza, Agent Insurance Lic#: 0C79663 827 S. Tustin Ave Orange, CA 92866 Bus: 714-505-3400 ron@ronesparza.com Looking for a Real Estate Agent? Call Jasmine Wesley (714) 910-4631 jasmine@prestige-realtyca.com Selected Santiago Oaks trails will test limitations on multi-uses A proposed pilot plan that will designate certain trails in San- tiago Oaks Park for hikers/horses only or restrict them to just moun- tain bikes is an OC Parks experi- ment intended to increase trail safety for all users. Santiago Oaks is one of three re- gional parks that will assign trails for specific users and designate some of them as one-way only. The pilot program is in response to a number of trail use concerns, including conflicts between hik- ers, bikers and horseback riders; habitat impacts resulting from non-permitted activity; trail qual- ity/conditions and overuse; the safety of users and wildlife; and insufficient enforcement. Right now, 45 OC park rang- ers oversee some 60,000 acres of wilderness that accommodates hikers, bikers, equestrians, run- ners, birdwatchers, and protected wildlife and plants. The number of trails in these areas is limited by funding and land-use restric- tions. OC Parks and the (often at-odds) trail users must make do with a finite resource. Happy trails When identifying current multi-use trails for the pilot pro- gram, OC Parks considered safe- ty, feasibility and connectivity. At Santiago Oaks, designated use and direction will be tested on the Peralta Hills, Chutes Ridgeline, Yucca Ridge, Cactus Canyon and Pony Trails. Peralta Hills, a single-track trail currently open to all users, will be limited to hiking and eques- trian use. It will remain bidirec- tional. Restricting use of that trail is anticipated to reduce potential impacts, safety issues and over- crowding by limiting it to those users traveling at slower speeds. The Chutes Ridgeline Trail will be designated for bikers traveling downhill only. That passageway connects Santiago Oaks to Irvine Park, and is primarily used today by bikers heading downhill, from one park to the next. The 10 mph speed limit will remain. A paral- lel lower trail (Chutes) will still be available for all users traveling in both directions. Overused and overworked Yucca Ridge is a heavily-used trail that connects Anaheim Hills to the inner canyon trails in San- tiago Oaks. It will continue to be available to all users, but will be downhill only. The goal is to ease congestion. The adjacent Coach- whip Trail can be used to go up- hill. Cactus Canyon, connect- ing Barham Ridge to the inner canyon, is used by hikers and equestrians, but is most heavily traversed by bikers going down- hill on berm turns. It will be re- stricted to downhill only (for all users) to reduce congestion. Us- ers traveling uphill may use the Coachwhip, BumbleBee/Moun- tain Goat Trails. One of two entrances to the south end of the park, the Pony Trail is mainly used by equestri- ans. It will be restricted to hikers and horses, to reduce congestion and limit speed. Bikers may enter and exit the park by the Santiago Creek Trail. The pilot program is still in the presentation stage, being shared with user groups countywide. The OPA Trails Committee was given the details at its April 21 meeting. The plan must next be approved by the county Parks Commission before it is put into play. Once activated, it will be temporary only, providing OC Parks with data to assess results/success and analyze operational impacts. From paradise to parking lot Roger McClennan has lived in his house on Parkside in Orange for 50 years. He and his wife raised a family there and planned to enjoy their retirement in the quiet neighborhood that has al- ways been home. All was well until 2017, when a car dealership began parking cars on the railroad right of way be- hind their backyard fence. When that dealership stopped ware- housing new cars there, another took its place. And another after that, and then another. “It was Toyota, Volkswagen, Kia and Now Hyundai,” Mc- Clennan says. “And Hyundai isn’t even an Orange dealership. They’re in Anaheim.” The cars themselves are not the problem. It’s the constant in-and- out at all times of day, seven days a week. “And the dust,” McClen- nan sighs. “They kick up dust that settles all over the yard and in the house. My wife complains that she can’t keep it clean.” McClennan and several of his neighbors have complained to the city. They’ve called code enforcement and city planners repeatedly since 2017. To no avail. “I can’t believe this is a legal use of this property,” he says. “If it is, no one has ever informed us. No one has ever acknowledged this neighborhood at all.” New cars stored behind the backyard fences of Parkside come and go at all hours of the day and night. Dust kicked up by the unwelcome vehicles settles into neighboring yards and residences. Yucca Ridge Trail Cactus Canyon Trail Chutes Ridgeline Trail Peralta Hills Trail Photo by Tony Richards Pony Trail