Fellow bikers,So many great biking activities going on right now with this beautiful autumn weather. I hope that you will take the time to support the new City Parks and Rec “shared use” ordinance to allow a shared use trail system at Ragged Mt. What can you do to support the Parks and Rec “shared use” ordinance?Please share and help spread the biking goodness.- Vote for shared use: http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/22233-poll-should-the-trails-at-the-ragged-mountain-be-o/
- Contact your City Council to voice your support for the share use ordinance. The Councilors really pay attention to these emails
*Send a single email to all the City Councilors: council@charlottesville.org*Send individual emails to the City Councilors: bfenwick@charlottesville.org kgalvin@charlottesville.org k.szakos@embarqmail.com dsmith@charlottesville.org huja1@comcast.net - Show up at the public hearing on Monday October 19th. City Council Chambers, Second Floor City Hall on the downtown mall.Talking points:
*Keep it simple. “I support the City Parks and Recreation proposed ordinance to allow a “shared use” trail system at Ragged Mt Natural Area.” Done and thank you.*Thank our City Councilors for all they do for bicycling in Charlottesville and making Charlottesville a “livable city”. These guys work pretty hard for us and rarely hear positive feedback. Give them a big hug and kiss.*City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Mission Statement: “To enhance the quality of life for all through the stewardship of public land and parks and to provide quality recreational experiences.” Emphasis on “quality recreation experiences”
*The bicycling community is happy to share trails and will work with Parks and Recreation to ensure that all users can have a positive experience at Ragged Mt. The bicycle community promotes INCLUSIVE not EXCLUSIVE use of our City Parks.
*CAMBC is fully committed to work with City Parks and Rec in building and maintaining a sustainable trail system at Ragged Mt. For example: February 14th: CAMBC worked with Parks and Rec to organize and host a trail work day at Ragged Mt. Over 40++ CAMBC volunteers spent a cold wintry morning building over 1 mile of sustainable bench cut trail at Ragged Mt. In addition, CAMBC hired spent $3,000 on a professional mechanized trail builder at Ragged Mt last winter in cooperation with Parks and Rec to construct a mile of trail. All of this despite not having City approval to ride our bicycles on the trails. This shows our willingness to work with Parks and Rec and commit our resources to shared use sustainable trails at Ragged Mt.
*City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation hosted a public meeting on November 14, 2014. There were over 60 people in attendance with many more contributing comments on line. There was near 100% agreement to allow a shared use trail system at Ragged Mt.
*Feel free to add your own personal anecdotes such as my kids like to ride bicycles on trails without getting run over by a car. Bicycling promotes a healthy life style etc. But PLEASE keep you comments POSITIVE. This is not about bikers vs birders or bikers vs the rest of the world. (although sometimes it feels like it) This is about shared use and the bicycling community working with City Parks and Rec to accommodate all users to enjoy the Ragged Mt Natural Area.
Thanks for your support
Jon Ciambotti
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CITY COUNCIL DECISION ON SHARED USE FOR RAGGED MOUNTAIN, OCT 19
