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County’s first greenway route enters final planning stage
By Carey King
For the past few years, the Jackson County Greenways Commission has been playing one huge game of connect-the-dots.
Its mission: to create a system of linear parks along streams, rail lines and roadways that will give county residents a place to walk, run and bike. The plan is to link existing parks with schools, government buildings and business areas, to provide a path that will be used both for exercise and as an alternative to motor vehicle traffic.
In the 50-year Greenways master plan (above) the Scotts Creek greenway proposed to run from Dillsboro to Sylva and the “Cullowhee Connector” that will follow N.C. 107 from Cullowhee Valley School to the entrance of Forest Hills both fit within the black circles, signaling completion within five years. The greenway on the old Blackwood Lumber line, planned to follow the old rail bed from Jack the Dipper ice cream shop to Western Carolina University, lies within the purple 10-year loop, as does a “Trail with Rail” greenway intended to run along current Great Smoky Mountains Railroad lines from Dillsboro toward Bryson City.
“We’re going to do what Jackson County wants to do to make the area walkable,” David Bates, commission coordinator, said.
While the first greenway portions under consideration are to stretch through central areas of county development – Sylva, Dillsboro and Cullowhee – the commission has a 50-year vision of expanding paths north to Whittier and Cherokee and south to Cashiers (see graphic).
Details on most of the trails have yet to be hammered out, as feasibility studies must be conducted, funding sources found and rights of way secured. But at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, owners of property along Scotts Creek will meet at Sylva’s Town Hall to get a glimpse of things to come.
That day, the commission will hold a public hearing on the first portion of greenway up for construction – a 10-foot-wide trail connecting the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot in Dillsboro to Poteet Park in Sylva.
Scotts Creek
Starting with the Scotts Creek greenway is what commission chairman Jim Dukes calls picking “low-hanging fruit,” his term for trails proposed near county population centers that are sure to generate lots of use and serve as models for greenways in the future.
The commission first called Scotts Creek residents together in February to inform them that a feasibility study of the area had been completed. The study showed that connecting Sylva and Dillsboro with a greenway makes sense, Bates said.
More than two dozen people showed up for the meeting, and most of them seemed positive about the project, he said.
“Only one said ‘not in my backyard,’” Bates said.
Since taking public input, commission members have been working to finalize a greenway route with architects from Atlanta-based Jon Benson + Associates Inc. and engineers from Rindt-McDuff Associates in Marietta, Ga.
On Tuesday, they’ll present a detailed map that shows not only where the greenway will run, but the construction methods planned to allow the path to fit next to rail lines, roads and the creek. Project architect Steve Provost has determined that a portion of the greenway must be built as boardwalk – an elevated path hugging the hillside – in order to keep walkers and bikers a safe distance from the rail bed.
Provost will also present information on potential cost of the project. At the commission’s last meeting, he gave a ballpark figure of about $775,000, an estimate some commission members say may be low.
Having that number will allow Bates to create a base budget and begin to apply for grant dollars, he said. Since the commission is dependent on grants for its funding, the step is a crucial one, Bates said.
Greenway coordinator David Bates, left, and architect Steve Provost of Atlanta-based Jon Benson & Associates Inc. discuss the route for the “Cullowhee Connector,” a greenway strip that will run along N.C. 107 from Cullowhee Valley School to the entrance of Forest Hills. The Greenway Commission chose the architect group for its experience with greenways and park development, Bates said. – Herald photo by Carey King
The master plan
The Greenway Commission was born in late 2000, the product of an intergovernmental agreement between Jackson County and its four towns. Its genesis began the year before, when a group of citizens came together to discuss the potential for a local greenway system.
“It takes years for these things to evolve, especially in counties that don’t have a lot of resources,” said Rob Hawk, an area specialized extension agent in community development.
Hawk has seen greenway plans develop in nearby towns including Franklin, Andrews and Murphy. Now, more than 300 such ventures are taking place across the state, he said.
In Jackson County, each of the five participating governments appoints three members to the commission, bringing its member tally to 15. Charged with assisting the municipalities with greenway development, the commission can investigate and apply for funding, but not bind the governments it represents in any way. Housed in the Justice Center, the commission uses the county as its clearinghouse for most matters.
Late last year, the group unveiled its master plan – a proposal Dukes describes as a “visioning type of thing.” The plan includes few specifics, giving instead an overall view for the next half-century and a thick pack of background information on greenway development.
“It’s our overall guide, and we wanted it to be really flexible,” Bates said.
The effort was “pretty much homegrown,” Bates said, in that commission members examined water routes and roads and came up with potential routes themselves.
“It turned out to be easy to identify,” he said. “Because of the way the mountains have developed, that’s the way you're going to travel.”
The plan identifies greenways to be developed on the heels of Scotts Creek’s: a “Cullowhee Connector” route along N.C. 107 from Cullowhee Valley School to the entrance of Forest Hills, a path following Blackwood Lumber’s old Tuckasegee and Southeastern Railroad line from Jack the Dipper ice cream shop to Western Carolina University’s new fraternity court, and a “Trail with Rail” along the GSMRR line north from Dillsboro toward Bryson City.
Each of the sections is in a different stage of development – while Provost is now studying the Cullowhee and the GSMRR portions, commission members are talking to property owners along the old Blackwood Lumber line.
“If you've got two (greenway sections) that you think you've got, it's time to start (planning) another,” Bates said.
Property concerns
Construction on the Scotts Creek greenway won’t begin until 2005, and that’s only if plans go smoothly, Bates said.
“Scotts Creek is very complicated,” he said. “There are so many property owners (to deal with). Some residents “might not want to be the first to jump” when they hear the commission’s request, Bates said: Convert a portion of personal property into a conservation easement, then receive tax breaks each year.
With such an easement, the owner retains possession of the land but turns its use over to the local government, which then provides maintenance and assumes liability for the property.
“By no means are we going to take property or condemn property,” Dukes said. Bonds are also currently out of the question, Bates said.
“We don’t have the money to go out buying easements,” Bates said. Converting land to an easement is a voluntary act to improve the community, he said.
In past years, the commission has stayed afloat with an annual dollars from the Jackson County budget and an assortment of grant funds. The group’s first big donation was $10,000 from the Duke Endowment in 2001 to get its office started and provide money for matching grants. There’s also been funding from the Conservation Fund's American Greenways Program Kodak Awards, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Americorps, the Western North Carolina Foundation and the Jackson County Community Foundation.
Bates writes about three or four grants a year, and says he wins about half of them.
“I don’t think we can continue to run it off of grants,” he said, while acknowledging that gifts and donations are always welcome.
Depending on the property decisions Scotts Creek residents make in coming months, the commission “might not get (its) preferred route the first time out,” Bates said.
If a property owner decides not to sign an easement, the commission simply has to find a way to build the greenway around their land.
“Nothing (about the Scotts Creek greenway) is cast in concrete yet,” Bates said. “We’re at a jumping-off point right now.”
Benefits for all
“We're fighting over who’s going to be No. 1 to sign,” Irene Hooper told fellow commission members at a meeting two months ago. Hooper’s property is located along the old Tuckasegee and Southeastern Railroad line and she’s said she wants to get her name on an easement agreement as soon as possible.
“I’m willing to be the first, because I used to walk those rails as a young person and try not to fall off,” Hooper said. “It’ll be great when we get (the greenway) all across Jackson County, won’t it?”
Greenway proponents agree, citing a list of benefits that ranges from increased recreational opportunities to economic growth to environmental protection. The more families that explore outdoors, the fewer families with an obesity problem. The more walkable trails there are, the more pleasant the area is for tourists who plan to spend dollars in area shops. And greenway strips serve to filter water runoff, trapping sediment and pollutants before they enter rivers and streams, supporters say.
In addition, communities with previous greenway experience report that trail creation forges new regional partnerships, due to the fact that paths extend across political boundaries.
“As many partners as we can pull together, the better off we’ll be,” Dukes said. "It's a real good opportunity to do something good for the community.”
As details about future greenways continue to be finalized – as decisions are made about easements, rights of way, paved and unpaved trails, lighting, bathroom facilities, trash cans, benches, signs, bike racks, dog cleanup stations, and art and history displays – commission members maintain a holistic view.
“We’re always looking at overall community connectivity,” Dukes said. “We’ll all be threaded together. Everything will be linked in.”
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