PD Editorial: It’s our way or the highway – Highway 12

The feud between the city of Santa Rosa and a gated community in Oakmont is certainly helping the local lawyer labor market. But at its core, it’s downright silly.

Here’s the issue. Five years ago, Santa Rosa filed suit against the Villages at Wild Oak Association after the association posted “No trespassing” and “No bicycles” signs along a path through the residential area, a path that has been used by cyclists and joggers for years.

The association responded by counter-suing, alleging that the city had created a nuisance by encouraging public cycling through the area.

After a foolhardy decision by Santa Rosa to file an anti-SLAPP motion against the homeowners - one that failed miserably and, on appeal, drew a stinging rebuke and a $40,000 fine by the 1st District Court of Appeal - the case is now being decided on its merits.

And the city has a pretty good argument, if not an air-tight one. When the Santa Rosa City Council changed the zoning of the property in 1977 to allow the subdivision to be built, it made clear that “public access to Annadel State Park shall be provided by easements through the Wild Oak property for pedestrian, equestrian and bicycle access.” But when the Villages easement deed was recorded three years later, it only referred to “pedestrian and emergency vehicle access” being allowed on the path. According to the city, the lack of specificity was not a prohibition against other forms of transportation as demonstrated by the fact that the path has been used by cyclists, horseback riders and skateboards for years without any attempt at limiting these uses.

Nevertheless, a Sonoma County judge made clear last week that there was “no express grant of any public easement rights for bikes/horses.”

The city should still prevail on its contention that the public has a “prescriptive” easement given that cyclists and others have been using the path that runs from Channel Drive along the northeastern boundary of Annadel State Park for years.

If not, it will be interesting to see how the association would go about enforcing the rules and whether joggers, skateboarders and others out for exercise would fall under its definition of pedestrian or would need to find a new route, possibly out on Highway 12. That’s not exactly the high road.