Cut-Through Committee Report
Mayor Cusack and members of city council:
Per the mayor’s request, a committee consisting of Cathy LaLonde, Laura Bischoff and Dan Sinclair met Tuesday, Dec. 15 with Mr. and Mrs. Butler and Mike Blanchard of MIG Properties to discuss the cut-through issue. An invitation also was made to Paul Unrue, a Riverlea resident who also is an investor of 142 W. Riverglen Dr., but he did not respond.
The six of us discussed the recent decision to close off the cut-through and various options for giving Riverlea residents pedestrian access from W. Riverglen Drive to Evening Street.
A brief background: the Butlers are residents of 156 W. Riverglen Dr. MIG Properties recently purchased the adjacent property at 142 W. Riverglen Dr. to renovate and sell. Following the purchase, MIG and the Butler’s agreed to close off the pedestrian path through the two properties. While the gravel drive shared by both properties may have given some the impression that it was public, the path was on private property. Nonetheless, residents have enjoyed access for decades and at a recent council meeting, many expressed concern about safety, particularly for children walking to school, the pool and other activities. Others said it discouraged walking and took away a sense of community with Worthington.
The options we discussed:
Keeping a path in the current location. Both the Butlers and Mike Blanchard say they will no longer allow access through their properties nor is either willing to sell a small strip to allow the village to own and maintain a path. The Butlers, who have graciously maintained the cut through for years, trimming back trees and bushes, picking up trash, etc., have tired of the foot traffic, incurred added insurance costs and are concerned about an adverse impact on their property value. Likewise, Mike Blanchard said a path would devalue his property.
Mike Blanchard is, however, willing to sell his entire property to the village.
So, the options for keeping a path in the current location would be for the village purchase 142 W. Riverglen, or to seek an easement or some sort of legal action to acquire a strip of either or both properties.
Establishing a path at an alternative location. At the council meeting at least three nearby property owners offered access through their yards, including homeowners adjacent to the Butlers and MIG Properties. How this could work is to have a path from the street to the rear of the property where it would then run along the back of the Butlers’ or MIG Properties, or both, to Evening Street. Riverlea owns a two-foot easement around the whole village, which could be utilized like a small alley.
The Butlers and Mike Blanchard said they had no objections to this option and offered some ideas on how it might look. While the Butlers preferred a fence between their back yard and the path, Mike Blanchard thought landscaping could separate the MIG Properties yard from a cut-through. Also discussed was having a paved path, possibly using a gate and limiting usage to certain hours or to foot traffic only. Another suggestion was having two paths (one directly west of the Butlers and one directly east of MIG) to disperse traffic through any single yard.
The option of an alternative path will require further discussions with the individual homeowners. For instance, would the path be on their property or would they sell a strip to the village? What would it look like? How might it impact their liability insurance? Would they maintain it or the village? Homeowners of the adjacent properties in Worthington also should be consulted.
Three additional factors to consider:
Busing. Worthington elementary students receive bus service if they reside further than 1.5 miles from school. Although Riverlea falls within that distance, village residents have received bus service for many years. Vicki Gnezda, communications director for the district, said it was requested for safety reasons apparently after a student was hit by a truck and killed on High Street.
The village was set to lose bus service had the November levy failed and a change in the cut through (should it become village owned) could result in the village losing bus service, according to George Sontag, the district’s transportation supervisor.
Gnezda added that bus service traditionally is offered if children have to traverse hazardous conditions such as cross busy roads or have no sidewalks along the route.
Sidewalks. According to Worthington city officials, if the village establishes a pathway to Evening Street in Worthington, the city would poll residents along Evening Street to determine if they desire sidewalks. The city’s view is that the village would be directing pedestrian traffic onto city streets and if Evening Street residents wanted sidewalks to accommodate this foot traffic, they would ask Riverlea to pay for it. This would not be an issue if an “informal” path on private property like the one we’ve had is in place. The city draws a distinction between a public (village-owned) path and one through private property.
It is unclear under what authority the city of Worthington could force Riverlea to make improvements outside the village. If the council wants to establish a permanent path, this issue should be researched by the village solicitor.
A long-term fix. Maintaining a path through private property – either like it has been or by re-routing pedestrian traffic along one or more paths by agreement with property owners and the village owned 2-foot strip could be revoked at any time and the village would be back to square one. It would not be long-term fix. A village-owned and maintained path would make the village responsible for maintaining it and other issues that may arise.
Conclusion.
The committee feels a path is desirable, primarily for the safety of our children. More than 80 children under 18 live in Riverlea, many of whom use the path. Just as many adults also use the path as a more pleasant, and sometimes shorter route, to get to the bike path, schools, pool and downtown.
It will be up to council to determine what the community wants as a whole and act accordingly. Please let us know if any further information is needed.
Sincerely,
Cathy Candisky
Laura Bischoff
Dan Sinclair
