"HISTORICAL PRECEDENT - PRIVATE PROPERTY - WALKING ONLY" Our sources and an abundance of public documents tell us that these have always been public trust lands. The legal documents are very clear. What is unclear is how the Riverside Village homeowners came to FERVENTLY BELIEVE that this property was privately owned by them. It IS clear that they absolutely DID believe it and do continue to believe it! We cannot determine who led them to this misconception, but we think it may have been the developers.
The developers were granted permission in the early 80's to restrict public access to these public lands while construction was in progress "for the safety of the public." But, the developers and RVHOA continued to post "No Trespassing" signs long after the construction danger was past. In fact, they were forced by the Dept. of Lands dozens of times over a ten plus year period to remove the signs... and they always put them right back up again. They claimed that the path was originally built for the exclusive use of the Riverside Village residents and could not support the increased traffic if they were forced to open up to public mixed use.
Finally, in 1994, when the lawsuit was filed against IFI and Evans Bros Construction by Dept of Lands for failure to comply with the 1980 Agreement and for failure to keep these public lands open to the public, they were forced to take down the last of the "No Trespassing" Signs. Page Five of the lawsuit describes that sign. It said...
"Private Property! No Trespassing!
This is not part of the Boise Greenbelt.
Violators will be prosecuted!"
When the "No Trespassing" sign finally came down, the "No Bicycles" signs went up, and those signs have remained ever since!
So, my friends, that is how we believe the myth of the "historical precedent" for the Riverside Village "Walking Only" designation came about. It began illegally... and it will end illegally, unless we all get involved, stand up, and say, "NO!"
(If someone has historical evidence to contribute to these facts, we would love to see it! We have spent MANY hours searching public records and interviewing key individuals at the city & state to try to get to the truth. What you see here is the best we can determine.)
"Much of the Greenbelt Path through Riverside Village is on private property which is still owned by the homeowners and the Riverside Village Homeowner's Association."
The surveys completed as part of the 1996 Agreement prove that NONE OF THE PATHWAY WAS BUILT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY! Most of the land that the pathway was built upon was originally State land. A few pieces originally belonged to the developer. A 15 foot corridor of land containing the pathway was conveyed to Garden City by both the State and the developer to finalize the agreements for the bicycle pathway.
"LET US HAVE OUR QUIET NATURE TRAIL / WILDLIFE HABITAT." First of all, it is not ours to give or yours to take. These lands belong to the public. Second, It’s not a matter of granting you a quiet place to walk. Feel free to have your walking path… just not in this spot where the State of Idaho said there would be a bicycle path. There are houses and back yards all along the path. This is more a matter of limiting traffic for the private back yards, patios and decks of homes along the river, as opposed to providing a “nature trail.” With all the houses there, it is definitely not an area that anyone would mistake for a nature preserve or wildlife habitat.
Also, take a look at the Riverside Village Homeowner's Association website http://rvhoa.org/ and see the methods these people recommend for getting rid of geese http://www.wildgoosechasers.com/tips.php if you think they have an interest in conserving wildlife!
"THE PATH IS HEAVILY USED BY WALKERS who come from all over the Treasure Valley to enjoy this quiet nature trail." We have this report from a Garden City resident who does NOT live in Riverside Village. “I jog and ride my bike on the greenbelt on the south side of the river 2 or 3 times a week. I always look across the river at the "pedestrian only" section of greenbelt on the north side of the river and it is always empty. No use. No visitors. There is not a pent up demand in Boise for a pedestrian only section of greenbelt.”
“IT’S TOO NARROW…” The Bike Path, as conveyed to the city as part of the agreement, was mandated to be within a 15 foot corridor – specifically to allow room for future expansion. If residents have encroached upon the 15 foot corridor for their own use and now claim that it is their own private property, YES! They will have to give it up!
“…AND IT IS OVERGROWN WITH TREE ROOTS!” As part of the agreement, Garden City was required to smooth out the tree roots and maintain the path. If they have not maintained the path since 1996 to keep the tree roots under control, it is high time that they do it now!
“A MIXED USE PATH MUST BE PAVED.” The compromise settlement in 1996 allowed for a compacted gravel pathway rather than a paved one, as long as it was still suitable for bicycles. If the path is widened and the tree roots are ground off, we think a compacted gravel path is an economical solution. In fact, COG offered to build it! As a matter of fact, Eagle has adopted this standard for their greenbelt paths - less expensive to build AND to maintain.
“THE EAGLE PATH SHOULD CONNECT ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE RIVER.” It is what it is – per the greenbelt “vision,” Eagle’s path is on the north side of the Boise River to provide connectivity to Eagle Island State Park. It connects to the Garden City path near Lakeland Village at the west boundary of Garden City.
"The "greenbelt" in Garden City goes north on Riverside Drive, out to State Street, south on Ulmer, through Lakeland Village city streets, to a new $100,000 (!?!?) paved path which will connect to the Eagle Greenbelt at the west city limits. Soon, everything will be lovely, because our "greenbelt" will detour away from State Street along an irrigation ditch behind Wakefield Subdivision (and this will only cost $23,000!)"
To this, I must say... I personally think it is ridiculous and ludicrous and shameful that the "greenbelt" in Garden City is not green. Greenbelts are supposed to be part of the park system along the river! The Wakefield detour is not an acceptable resolution of this problem. Garden City needs to put a priority on adhering to the clear spirit and intent of the Boise River Greenbelt -- continuous open access on both sides of the river for mixed use all the way from Lucky Peak to Eagle Island State Park.
“THERE IS A PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST MAYOR EVANS by Gary Segers and/or Citizens for an Open Greenbelt.” Absolutely untrue. However, we DO believe that even politicians and developers should be truthful and abide by their promises. When asked why, as the developer, he had not built the path he promised, Mayor Evans always said that it was “historically a pedestrian path for over 30 years.” When that was disproved, he said that he simply refused because he did not think it was a good idea for Garden City.
He had no right to make that decision contrary to the agreement between his companies and the State. That was not his personal property to give away to walkers only and residents in the subdivision he was developing. It was State Land that was designated for non-motorized multi-use as part of the continuous open pathway along the river for the Boise River Greenbelt.
Mayor Evans has perpetuated these myths of “private ownership, and historical precedent, and walking only” to the public and more recently, as Mayor, to his own Council. Many people sincerely believe this skewed version of the history of the Riverside Village path. It is time for the “myths” to end.
