The Grand County Council voted 5-2 on March 18 to approve the Grand County Non-Motorized Trails Master Plan.

    The vote came immediately after a public hearing during which no residents spoke, perhaps because the county Planning and Zoning Commission had held two public hearings and voted unanimously to recommend approval by the council.

    Council chairman Gene Ciarus and council member Jerry McNeely voted against approval because they said some potential conflicts had not been sufficiently discussed with the county road department.  

    After objections from the motorized recreation community at its first public hearing, the planning commission continued the hearing for a second session to allow Trail Mix to address the motorized issues.

    The outcome was revisions to the plan's 11-page trails matrix, which details each trail and its status.

    Revisions also re-categorize the status column in the matrix to show that each trail is either approved or is pending action. A comments column clarifies what action must be taken to achieve approval for proposed, or pending, trails. And new appendices make it easier to understand the matrix and the plan's maps.

    Councilman Jim Lewis attempted to sway Ciarus and McNeely, who objected to the proliferation of proposed trails in Spanish Valley, by explaining that many of the trails were just a "wish list."

    "Anything that is not [already] approved is just a marker," Lewis said, noting that property owners may not go along with the proposals, or that lines on the map may be moved after negotiation with the owners.

    The revisions clarify that 47 percent of the 309 trails listed in the "non-motorized" trails plan are shared with motorized vehicles.

    Sixty percent of the 309 trails are designated for bike use. Hiking trails comprise 53 percent of the total, but only 19 percent are for hiking exclusively. Of the 165 trails designated for hiking, or for both hiking and biking, 48 are also designated for motorized use.

    About 24 percent of the trails are slated for equestrian use, with more than two-thirds of them designated for shared motorized travel. Three trails are designated for skiing, all of them sharing the road with motor vehicles.