Planners OK right of way for trails - The decision also preserves the former Southern Pacific railroad property for future rail service.

By Cathy Locke -- Sacramento Bee Staff Writer

October 27, 2002

Sacramento, CA - Trails advocates burst into applause Thursday afternoon as El Dorado County planning commissioners approved a long-awaited master plan that designates former Southern Pacific railroad right of way for trail use while protecting the corridor for the potential revival of rail service.

The Sacramento-Placerville Transportation Corridor Master Plan identifies various uses for the 28-mile stretch of right of way that extends from the El Dorado-Sacramento County line to just west of the Ray Lawyer Drive overcrossing in Placerville. It is part of a 53-mile rail corridor that begins at 65th Street near Brighton Avenue in Sacramento.

"We've waited so long for this," Joanne Lowry said after the meeting. She noted that the draft plan and environmental impact report were last discussed two years ago and sent back to county planning staff members for revisions.

Lowry, who lives near a trail system off Highway 50 east of Placerville, said she uses the trail four or five days a week. "The assets have been gigantic," she told planning commissioners. "We feel like we live near beachfront property."

Lowry said she has looked forward to a trail system extending west of the city for equestrian, pedestrian and bicycle use.

County planner Pierre Rivas said the draft plan initially divided the El Dorado County part of the corridor into seven segments and identified uses for each segment based on compatibility of the activities. The Planning Commission, however, preferred allowing multiple uses for the entire corridor.

The master plan endorsed by the commission Thursday would allow a variety of uses including excursion rail; pedestrian, equestrian and bicycle trails; utility easements; and filming activities within the right of way.

Rivas said he expects to present the plan to the Board of Supervisors for approval in December.

He noted that the Southern Pacific Railway filed a request with the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1986 to abandon the Placerville branch of its line from the Butterfield area in Sacramento County to Diamond Springs in El Dorado County. Service between Diamond Springs and Placerville already had been discontinued.

El Dorado County protested the abandonment, arguing that the line was important to commerce and community development. The Sacramento-Placerville Transportation Corridor Joint Powers Authority subsequently was formed to purchase the railroad corridor from Southern Pacific. The authority consists of El Dorado and Sacramento counties, the city of Folsom and the Sacramento Regional Transit District.

In 1996, the authority purchased the corridor under the National Trails System Act to preserve the area for future rail service while providing for interim transportation, utility and recreational uses.

Although trails advocates expressed delight with the master plan, backers of excursion rail and a possible revival of freight service in the county said they had some concerns.

Bill Thompson, a board member of Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad Inc., a group of volunteers seeking to develop excursion rail service in the county, objected to requiring an environmental impact report for proposed rail operations in what has been a rail corridor since the 1860s.

Thompson said his group has put a great deal of time and effort into trying to maintain the line. But, he said, "I think the EIR is a financial roadblock that would stop everything we have on the table."

Tom Mahach, a former county planning commissioner, said the county should not rule out a partnership to finance environmental studies for projects such as an excursion rail. Money, he said, might be available from the transient occupancy tax paid by people who stay in hotels or motels in the county. Those funds, he said, are to be used for tourism and recreation purposes.

"Think out of the box and leave that potential open," he said.

Paula Frantz, counsel to the commission, said the scope of the environmental document would depend on the type of use proposed and its likely effect on the area. In some cases, she said, the county might conclude that the potential impacts were covered in the EIR prepared for the master plan.

Sue Olmstead told the commission that she has lived along the railroad tracks in Latrobe for 45 years.

"The firemen and the caboose people would always wave," she said. "As you can see, we had so much excitement in Latrobe with it being so rural."

Olmstead said she was speaking on behalf of seven area property owners in urging the panel to preserve the corridor for an excursion and freight line. Trails, she said, could leave residents vulnerable to "people who want to do mischief to our property."

However, Eileen Crim of Placerville praised the master plan. Identifying herself as chairwoman of the organization " 'Trails Now,' not 'Trails Eventually,' " Crim said, "Trails are a nice, clean alternative for transportation."

Bob Smart of Diamond Springs, another trails advocate, urged planners to ensure that adequate property is available at locations identified as trail heads. "Many may end up with some very substantial parking lots," he said, adding that the county should consider something similar to park-and-ride lots.

Rivas said the county Department of Transportation and Department of Parks and Recreation would work together to develop the "staging areas." He agreed some would need to be quite large to provide restrooms and accommodate horse trailers.