HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/16/2018 Item 9, Hall
From:Lisa Hall <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Pilot Program - Winter hiking hours
January 16, 2018
To: Members of the San Luis Obispo City Council,
I hike in SLO on Thursday evenings with friends; we have hiked together for about 15
years and are good stewards of the land. I have served on the board of the Santa Maria
Open Space and have worked on trail projects, clearing brush and maintaining trails, with
the Los Padres Forest Association Volunteers.
A couple of years ago when the city decided to curtail open space use past sunset it
brought an end to our group’s longtime practice of hiking Cerro San Luis on winter
evenings. We are law abiding citizens and do not want to face fines or violate the law.
Almost all of us are professionals who work during the day, thus it was our joy to
gather after work to exercise and commune with the outdoors and each other. We
would use headlights and always stayed on the narrow corridor of the trail. Our impact
on the land is light. The acreage of open space land that we want to again have access
to is minimal. Most of the trail that we travel is on Madonna property. At a previous city
council meeting a member of the Madonna family spoke in behalf of allowing evening
access. We are grateful for his words.
One of the rich benefits of life on the central coast of California is the general advocacy
for a healthy outdoor, active lifestyle. Going to a gym or walking the city streets is not
the same experience as walking on a dirt trail. Hiking is an important outlet for body
and mind.
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We sincerely hope that a pilot program will be enacted to allow our group, and other
law-abiding exercise enthusiasts, to use the Cerro San Luis open space trail until 8PM
at night.
Thank you for your consideration,
Lisa Hall
Santa Maria, CA
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