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The Alto Bowl and Horse Hill Open Space Preserve Trails
The following letter regarding the Marin Open Space District's plan to open the Bob Middagh trails to mountain biking, and to create a new connector trail in the Alto Bowl Open Space Preserve, has been sent to the Mill Valley City Council.
Dear Mill Valley City Council Members,
Friends of Marin Open Space (FOMOS), a collective of leadership and members of the homeowners' and horse owners' associations that surround the Alto Bowl and Horse Hill Open Space Preserves, are asking for your support in maintaining the Bob Middagh trail for hiker and equestrian access.
As part of the MCOSD’s new Road and Trail Management Plan, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Access4Bikes were given six new trails in Region 1. For this year’s budget cycle, MCBC and A4B also submitted 13 action plans for additional trails in Region 1. The first two of these projects were given first stage approval. These first two projects are opening the Middagh in the Alto Bowl OSP and creating a new connector trail in the Camino Alto OSP.
The MCBC action plan that asked the MSOSD to open the Middagh named 12 local bike riders as requesting this change for their use. Since the Middagh allows a connection to the MV-Sausalto MUP and the new connector trail connects to Blithedale Summit, one of the most popular biking preserves, opening the Middagh will create a shortcut likely to be used by all those seeking to ride Blithedale Summit. The 2011 MCOSD census counted 50 bikers entering Blithedale Summit each hour. Opening to the MV MUP will increase this number, likely by an order of magnitude.
The Middagh is the only access from Horse Hill to the rest of the Region 1 preserves for both hikers and equestrians. For this reason, it is of significant concern to our members. Not only are hikers concerned for their safety on a 3-4 ft trail with this level of biking, but horse owners have stated that riders must have safe passage or equestrians will not keep horses on Horse Hill.
FOMOS, ABHA and many local neighbors and friends, including mountain bikers who love Horse Hill, have written multiple letters to the MCOSD staff and leadership (BOS) requesting no change in use on the Middagh. FOMOS and ABHA proposed seven alternative action plans for Alto Bowl and Horse Hill (MCOSD did not score them). All of the interested parties have repeatedly met with the MCOSD.
Max Korten, the newly appointed head of the MCOSD (as of November 2), has said that he will make the decision on the Middagh very shortly. This decision does not need final approval of the BOS. FOMOS is asking you as individuals and/or as the City Council take the time now to support the current designation of the Middagh in view of significant potential mountain bike use and its ability to jeopardize and displace the Middagh’s historical users. Please also see the “dozen good reasons not to open the Middagh” below.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely, Mari Robinson for Friends of Marin Open Space (FOMOS)
For your convenience: Max Korten MKorten@marincounty.org
A dozen good reasons not to open the Middagh: 1. Safety - each end of the Middagh has steep blind curves. Two near misses with multiple bikers have already occurred on either end, each potentially causing serious injury or even death, both reported to MCOSD at time of occurrence. At least 40 other incidents were also reported to MCOSD. An injury accident between two youth bikers that caused the loss of an eye, was reported at the most recent BOS/MCOSD meeting.
2. Speeding - STRAVA and MCOSD data show bikers speeding on the Middagh 20-31 mph on regular mountain bikes. Coming straight down from Camino Alto has been clocked at 41 mph.
3. Enforcement - Neither MCOSD nor MCBC has been able to enforce acceptable biker behavior on the Middagh in regard to speeding, riding illegal trails, night riding, jumping erosion dips, or building illegal trails.
4. E-bikes - A poor track record of enforcement precludes either MCOSD nor MCBC being able to keep electrical mountain biking off the Middagh. Current common models of electrical mountain bikes can go 50 mph. MCOSD volunteers already see electric mountain bikes on OSPs.
5. MCOSD Policies - Opening the Middagh would abrogate MCOSD's own policies SP16 and SP17 regarding trails near stables and displacement of historical trail users.
6. RTMP Goals - Making the Middagh a shortcut to Blithedale Summit would violate the stated MCOSD goal that "No policy of the RTMP regarding visitor use will encourage an overall increase in visitor use levels."
7. Historical Use - The Alto Bowl and Horse Hill open space was originally preserved by Mill Valley, the first through a development agreement and the second through 6-8,000 residents raising the funds to purchase the land to provide a sanctuary specifically for the horses, not for biking. The horses currently live and graze on both the Alto Bowl and Horse Hill preserves.
8. Private Roads - The access road to the Middagh from the MV MUP crosses private MVM land with an easement specifically limiting access to hikers and equestrians.
9. Multiple Routes - Bikers have many other means of accessing Blithedale Summit. The Middagh is an unnecessary short cut. Mill Valley just spent $1M to upgrade Camino Alto for bike lanes and is spending $28M for the Miller Avenue Streetscape plan in part for buffered bike lanes, both of which provide access to Blithedale Summit. Blithedale Summit may also be accessed through Corte Madera.
10. Current Access - Counting both the current roads and trails available to bikers in Region 1, bikers have access to 68% of what is available to all users. (Fire road access is traditionally omitted by bikers in their comparison numbers with hikers and equestrians.)
11. Future Access - Last year in Region 1, bikers were given six new trails in Camino Alto OSP and 13 other new action plans were scored and approved for final action. For the next several years, the process will allow MCBC and A4B to submit as many trail requests as each desires each year. All trails in the preserves above Camino Alto are contiguous and lengthy. Horse Hill and Alto Bowl, two of the smallest preserves in all of Marin, have less than a couple of miles of trails total, all of which are in poor condition and discontinuous from the other OSPs.
12. Need Basis - Hikers and especially equestrians must access other preserves to get adequate exercise because AB/HH trails are few and short. The Middagh is necessary for this access as there is no other access route from Horse Hill to the preserves. There is no similar “need” for bikers as they have so many other routes to Blithedale Summit easily accessible by bikes. A few hundred yard shortcut through a small discontinuous preserve is of questionable need for a group that is seeking 20-25 miles of continuous trail for regular and team riding.
Again, thank you for your consideration and support.