We are asking the city of Walnut Creek to honor the intent of our Open Spaces.   Our Open Spaces were purchased by taxpayers to be Preserved and Protected.  Preserved so that the hills would remain forever unchanged.  Protected so that the plants, animals, and habitats would never be impacted.  

Our Open Spaces are enjoyed by a wide range of users.  It is intended to be a serene area to enjoy nature and enjoy its unchanged beauty.   Community members can walk just a short distance and feel miles away from the city. Many communities directly abut our open spaces and they enjoy the quiet and peace it has provided for decades.

Open Spaces are not parks, recreation is not the priority for these areas.  The city is currently considering changing trail designations to allow mountain bikes on single-track trails.  They are also considering building a high-speed mountain bike FLOW trails in Lime Ridge Open Space.  A Flow Trails take mountain bikers on a terrain-induced roller coaster experience, with little pedaling and braking necessary. This style of trail typically contains features like banked turns, rolling terrain, various types of jumps, and consistent and predictable surfaces.

 Both of these plans would cause substantial damage to the Open Space environments.  Both of these initiatives would attract even more mountain bikers to our Open Spaces.  These changes would endanger other user groups as currently single track trails are predominantly dedicated to hikers and equestrians.  These changes would effectively turn our Open Space into a Mountain Biking Park.  These changes do not align with current municipal codes.  This does not align with the intent or purpose of our Open Space. 

We are asking the City of Walnut Creek to:

Follow current city municipal codes which preclude bikes on single-track trails

Prohibit the development of any Flow trails within our Open Spaces

Protect and preserve the nature corridor between our Open Spaces and Mount Diablo

Enforce the current rules and municipal codes within our Open Spaces

Stop the building of illegal trails in our Open Space

Develop enforcement procedures to protect our Open Spaces.

Protect Federal and State threatened species such as the Alameda Whipsnake and the Mt. Diablo horned lizard that reside in our Open Spaces.  Preserve the rare species of plants such as the Mt. Diablo Fairy Lantern, Mt. Diablo Sunflower, Vinegar weeds,  and Navarrentia that grow in our open spaces.

If these changes are allowed to happen our Open Spaces will be changed forever.  The damage that will be done will not ever be able to be "undone".  The damage that has already occured due to illegal mountain biking has caused substantial damage and it has cost taxpayers considerable money to try to correct the environmental damage to our Open Space.  We need to put a stop to this now.  We must Protect and Preserve our Open Spaces!