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Ground Broken on Sammamish Trail-August 1

Borregokid

Borregokid

Monkey
Aug 12, 2004
421
0
Cle Elum
This is kind of old news since the homeowners gave up the fight several months ago. The Sammamish Trail connecting Issaquah to Redmond has officially started construction. This trail was built primarily I think because Ron Sims had the political guts to stand up to all the money and pressure that the homeowners had along the lake. Rons Sims deserves a lot of credit for seeing that this trail is getting built. The city of Sammamish was totally gutless on the trail until the end when the politicians saw that it was gong to be built. This trail could be open by next year. It will be possible to Bike from the U of W to Issaquah without having to battle cars. :cool:

Heres a link:

http://dnr.metrokc.gov/dnrp/press/2005/0801ELSTgroundbreaking.htm
 
Certified Drunk

Certified Drunk

SVT-Lightning
Feb 17, 2002
842
0
Zippy's Burgers
Good news? The County takes your property and gives you nothing in return! Oh wait they will still make you pay property tax on it. You can have Ron Sims for your ....
Just wait, Some biker will be killed from a car crossing the trail! Sorry
 
Borregokid

Borregokid

Monkey
Aug 12, 2004
421
0
Cle Elum
Certified Drunk said:
Good news? The County takes your property and gives you nothing in return! Oh wait they will still make you pay property tax on it. You can have Ron Sims for your ....
Just wait, Some biker will be killed from a car crossing the trail! Sorry
Click to expand...
The property owners and maybe you are one spent the last six years in every court they could find and hired every expert they could find and looked for every sympathetic judge in order to convert the property to their hands. They lost in every court. The property owners should be happy its a bike trail. If BNSF decided to reopen the old Milwaukee Road and run trains from Eburg to Seattle they could run at least 10 100 car trains a day right past all the houses. Wonder how the property owners would like a freight train at 1am and another at 4am. Far fetched? The trail is still open to future rail use.

As far as the property taxes-why not nail the owners with a tax. For the last 10 years they have been parking their boats, trailers, cars, flower gardens etc on the right of way. Have any members of the public been able to use the trail? Its about time the property owners figured out where to put their boat trailers. I am not sure if anyone paid any taxes I think it was a threat.

As far as Sims-the trail wouldnt have gotten built. Every other politician would have been either gutless or folded like the rest of the Sammamish Council. Bottom line the property owners had their day in court and lost. By the way not every property owner was opposed to the trail, many supported the trail.
 
D

Dave_Schuldt

Monkey
Jun 13, 2004
343
0
Seattle
CD the land was never thiers. When you buy land the borders are clearly defined. In 1975 congress passed a law that said ....when a RR abandons a line that was given to them by the government the local government gets it. The home owners can eat ----. This is great news. A big thanks to those who worked so hard over all these 15? years.
 
Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
Certified Drunk said:
Good news? The County takes your property and gives you nothing in return! Oh wait they will still make you pay property tax on it. You can have Ron Sims for your ....
Just wait, Some biker will be killed from a car crossing the trail! Sorry
Click to expand...
Transportation always trumps home ownership. If the government can slap a freeway or road or build a third runway and make you move, that's just the way it is. So i got no qualms with a bike trail running thru "yuppie" land.
 
Borregokid

Borregokid

Monkey
Aug 12, 2004
421
0
Cle Elum
I am not even sure if I would call those folks 'yuppies'. they had way too much money to fight the trail. According to the Seattle Times the County spent about one million per year in legal fees and I would assume the "East Lake Sammamish Trail Association" spent an equal amount. I figure that over eight years and eight million from each side for a total of $16,000,000. This was one of the most expensive- litigious trail fights anywhere in the country. Early on the homeowners threatened too make this a very expensive fight-implying they had more money than the County and it wouldnt be worth the fight. I am not sure if the homeowners on the west side of Seatac had the kind of money that the ELSTA had. Besides Sims standing up to the ELSTA some of the politicians who for reasons unknown supported the ELSTA found themselves voted out of office.
 
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