Calling all VVMBA members, mountain bikers, and soft surface trail enthusiasts! The Avon Trails Master Plan Open House is on June 15th and it is very important to let the Avon Town Council know how important more soft trails are to you, your friends, and your neighbors. Whether you live in Avon or not, please show up. Let the Town know you spend money in Avon due to the trails. If you know of a business owner in Avon, try and get them to show up and support new soft trails being built this year.
There is $100,000 at stake that may or may not be used for trails this year. VVMBA supports the immediate expansion of the proposed trail system just north of the truck turn-around on Metcalf road on the way up to Wildridge. If you like what has happened in the West Avon Preserve and support the expansion of that system, Show up on June 15th!
Trail supporters like you were key to having the existing trails built in the West Avon Preserve! In 2014, the Avon Town Council saw a full house of trail enthusiasts and understood how important these trails are to our community. Now is the time to stand together once again! Please continue to show your support for trails in Avon. Help us pack the house at at the Avon Town Council meeting on the 15th, send an e-mail to Town of Avon, or spread the word to attend the upcoming Open House!
-VVMBA Board of Directors
Below is the official press release from Town of Avon with master planning schedule and process:
| AVON’S TRAILS MASTER PLAN UPDATE TO BE PRESENTED AT A PUBLIC MEETING JUNE 15TH
Public comment will be encouraged during the review and adoption period Avon, CO –The Town of Avon’s Recreational Trails Master Plan (Trails Plan) has undergone its first review and update since the Trails Plan’s adoption in 2009. Retaining Olsson Associates, as consultants to the Town, the review began with a comprehensive assessment of all Town-owned lands for environmental and visual qualities. The mapping facilitated the evaluation of where new multi-use trail development could and should not be considered based upon the sensitivity mapping. A key objective of the Trails Plan Update is to identify an integrated set of soft and hard surface trails throughout the entire Town, with connections to other trail networks in the Vail valley. The planning effort also has included assessing trails which should be considered for redesign to achieve sustainability and locations for new parking lot development. Other basic components of the updated plan include estimates to build new trails, criteria for prioritizing new trail development, overall annual cost estimates for trail maintenance and trail etiquette standards. The plan has been guided by a steering committee representing hikers, mountain bike interests and motorized users. Private landowners, the Eagle Valley Land Trust, Avon Recreational Trails Advisory Group and Walking Mountain Science Center were identified in plan development outreach as important stakeholders in trail development and use. The public will be afforded several opportunities over the next two months to participate in the significant review of the Trails Plan Update through the adoption process. All meetings will provide for public questions and comments. Email communication and letters will be accepted into the public record, at any time, by sending comments to Avon’s Town Clerk Debbie Hoppe at dhoppe@avon.org. Public review of the Trails Plan Update will begin on the evening of June 15th, followed by the required formal review by the Avon Planning and Zoning Commission and, based upon the Commission’s recommendation, consideration by the Town Council for adoption through two readings of an adopting ordinance. The schedule, to date, is as follows. 5:00 pm Open House – Self-guided review of the updated trail maps 5:30 pm Introduction of the Meeting Order – Planning Director Matt Pielsticker 5:05 pm Planning and Zoning Commission Review and recommendation to the 5:30 pm First Reading of an Adopting Ordinance – Town Council 5:30 pm Second Reading of an Adopting Ordinance – Town Council The Trails Plan Update – Abstract can be found at www.avon.org/trails. Additionally, trails proposed in the Upper Metcalf Drainage and north of and along Nottingham Road have been flagged to provide interested residents and trail users’ visual references prior to the meetings. *Subject to change should the Planning and Zoning Commission require additional time to review the plan. |
