In Two Meetings, Brevard ETAB Makes Several Decisions

The Brevard Ecusta Trail Advisory Board (ETAB) held two meetings in September, during which they approved connecting the Ecusta Trail to the Estatoe Trail and the design for mileposts, took a survey to tentatively prioritize amenities, and discussed encroachments and parking options. 

Meeting #1: At the first meeting held on Sept. 5, Teresa Buckwalter and Christy Staudt of Traffic Planning and Design, Inc. (TPD) provided an update on encroachments in the trail’s right-of-way. Encroachments were categorized as high (buildings), medium (residential yards), and low (relatively undeveloped). The actual distance of the encroachment itself from the planned trail would also be considered when selecting the types of buffers to be used.

Buffer types range from fences to entirely block views and access to minimal landscaping to differentiate the trail right-of-way from adjacent undeveloped private property.

“Sometimes trail users just need a visual clue,” said Buckwalter.

Larry Chapman, the Transylvania County Commission representative on ETAB, asked about any legal liability for people whose structures or activities may encroach on the trail right-of-way.

Paul Ray of the Brevard Planning Department said the city would draft an encroachment agreement for all parties to sign and the agreement would include “hold harmless” language.

Brevard City Council member Mac Morrow, who is also an ETAB co-chair, said the city is being lenient with some of those encroaching on the right-of-way, but 

“We’re clear that they don’t own it.”

Aaron Baker, who is also a Brevard City Council member and co-chair of ETAB, said there needs to be uniformity of screening along the trail. 

Buckwalter said The Department of Transportation (DOT) and TPD would provide maps, photos and “roll out plots” at an open house on Sept. 10 for anyone, but especially adjacent property owners, to view the 30 percent trail design and provide a follow-up procedure to property owners who might have more questions.

Lonnie Watkins, who is administering the project for DOT, said they also could meet with property owners onsite to show them the impact of the trail.

“That’s normal process. We do that all the time,” said Watkins.

He also said that screening and landscaping along a trail “is a normal cost.”

There was discussion as to whose interests are given priority: the trail user or the property owner who is encroaching on the trail right-of-way.

Ray said he thought the trail user has priority, but Watkins said it was just his opinion that the trail user just passes by while the property owner is there all the time.

Staudt said Henderson County is giving priority to the trail user.

It was then decided that ETAB would make future decisions on buffers based on priority and safety.

The topic then switched to amenities. Buckwalter reviewed the three levels of amenities, from Level 1, which can often, but not always, be paid for by federal grants, to Level 3, which typically cannot be paid for with federal grants.

Staudt said there must be ample parking and bathroom facilities; otherwise, there would be problems.

Buckwalter said items such as trail counters, however, are useful, particularly when seeking future grants for the trail because they show actual trail usage.

Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof said Henderson County is partnering with businesses near the trail to provide amenities.

“It just makes sense,” said Copelof.

ETAB member Dee Dee Perkins asked if information stations/kiosks could pay to have advertising on the kiosk, thus providing another revenue stream that might free up grant money for other uses.

Friends of Ecusta Trail (FOET) President Mark Tooley said, however, that FOET has approximately 100 individuals who have made major donations to the Ecusta Trail and need to be recognized on these amenities. He added that there is “not a universe of amenities” to match up with all of the donors.

Buckwalter said civic destinations, not private businesses, were usually on kiosks.

Board members discussed but took no action on the possibility of private businesses being allowed to advertise on kiosks for short periods of time.

Brevard City Manager Wilson Hooper then said the board needed to rank the amenities so that if they did run out of money for amenities, they would know which ones to prioritize.

The board then went through four rankings of items (as itemized below from most to least important).

The rankings for Level 1 amenities, which could be paid for from federal grants, are: mile/location markers, orientation/wayfinding markers, information kiosks, waste receptacles, benches and bicycle racks.

Level 1 items that would not be paid for by federal grants are: water stations, trail counters, and bicycle fix-it stations.

Level 2 items, which are usually not paid for by federal grants, are: public restrooms, parking lots, and minor trailheads.

The last survey ETAB members took included prioritizing the greater trail projects. In order of importance, they are Level 1 amenities (mile markers, benches, etc.), Level 2 amenities (public restrooms, parking lots), improvements to adjacent infrastructure (Asheville Highway bike/pedestrian improvements and sidewalk path tie-ins), preservation of natural features, safety enhancements (emergency call boxes, safety lighting), and aesthetic enhancements (public art, interpretative exhibits).

After the survey, Watkins then addressed connecting the western end of the Ecusta Trail to the current Estatoe Trail, which is close to the Ecusta Trail and runs into downtown Brevard.

He said the Ecusta Trail, as submitted to the federal government, does not actually connect to the Estatoe Trail and ends at Oskar Blues, but there were a few options as to how to connect the two.

Two of the options, however, would require the purchase of right-of-way, thus costing more money and extending the time to construct the trail.

To keep within the current schedule and keep costs down, Watkins suggested, and the board unanimously agreed, to use an extension from Cherry Street to connect the two trails, at least in the near future.   

“Then, at some point in the future, Brevard could pursue other alternatives to tie the trail in if they wanted to do that with additional funds,” said Watkins.

Meeting #2: On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the ETAB unanimously approved the mile marker design and location after hearing a presentation from Hunter Marks, former FOET president and landscape architect who has been working on the mile markers.

“Where do we put zero?” asked Marks.

The question was twofold: Should Brevard or Hendersonville be designated as the beginning of the trail (milepost zero), and should the old railroad markers or actual trail distances be used to mark the mileage?

Marks said the old railroad markers places mile zero at the old railroad depot in Hendersonville, which is more than a half mile from the terminus for the Ecusta Trail in Hendersonville. He also noted that while the railroad itself ran in a straight line, the trail itself will have more curves – one reason is to have the trail intersect roads at 90 degrees to enhance safety – so the trail will be slightly longer than the rail line.

Marks also noted that the current termini of the Ecusta Trail are not where the trail will eventually end. In Brevard, for example, the current terminus is near Oskar Blues, but the plan is for the trail to connect to the Estatoe Trail and have its actual terminus on Main Street in Brevard. 

He was then asked if the mile markers could be “bidirectional,” with two numbers to indicate the distance from each terminus so that neither city would be considered the beginning point.

“I think it would be better with one number,” said Marks, who added that the primary purpose of the mile marker is to let emergency personnel know where to go if there is an accident along the trail.

“I think the safety issue is real,” said Brevard city council member and ETAB co-chair Aaron Baker. “I think it’s pretty clear we have to have one number on these things.”

In regard to which city would claim the zero milepost and the beginning of the trail, Christy Staudt of the engineering and design firm TPD said there could be two advantages for Brevard if it were not the beginning point.

“You’re going to be the destination,” she said, adding that it also would be easier to add mile markers at the end of the trail if the trail is extended to Main Street.

Marks said a decision should be made as soon as possible since the mile markers would be one of the first things installed on the first six miles of the trail in Henderson County.

The board them approved the design and for the mileposts to be placed according to the trail, not the railroad, distance.

Marks said RTAC would meet in another three weeks to vote on the same issues, and he did not see anything that would conflict with approval by RTAC.

“They’re getting what they wanted,” said Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof, who is a non-voting member of ETAB.

ETAB members also received some preliminary information regarding parking options along the trail.

Teresa Buckwalter of TPD said if there is no place for trail users to park they would create their own parking places.

“We want to get ahead of that,” said Buckwalter.

She said they have been working on identifying potential parking areas along the trail. They have been looking at various criteria, such as areas in the trail right-of-way or adjacent to the trail, non-residential areas that are currently under-utilized, and places that could accommodate 10 or more vehicles and possibly have room for restrooms. 

Buckwalter provided profiles of several areas under consideration while ETAB members mentioned other places for consideration. One such place is the road that goes around Pisgah Forest Elementary School and comes quite close to the Ecusta Trail.

John Ditillo, FOET’s representative on the ETAB, suggested putting angle parking along that stretch of road and installing a walkway over a ditch that would connect the parking area to the trail. 

However, Brevard City Manager Wilson Hooper said the city had discussed that possibility with the school system in the past and the school system wants to keep that road clear during all school hours. The road is particularly crowded when children are being dropped off or picked up from school.

Board members also discussed how to handle property that is not in the trail right-of-way and how to work with adjacent property owners whose property would provide good parking areas.  

Marks said trail proponents in Henderson County talked with advocates of the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville, who focused on partnering with businesses along the trail. If the businesses provided parking and restrooms for trail users, then the trail organization would include those businesses in marketing materials. As a result, Henderson County has focused on developing Trail Partners to provide some of these amenities, but Marks said those partners are harder to find in the rural areas along the trail.

Buckwalter suggested, and Hooper agreed, that a small group – possibly members of city staff, DOT and FOET – begin reaching out to property owners along the trail whose property would be a good place for parking and other amenities. 

In another matter, both Buckwalter and Staudt said the NCDOT Open House held on Sept. 10 regarding the Ecusta Trail earlier in the month went well. DOT had packets of information available regarding the proposed trail in Transylvania County, as well as two sets of five large maps showing the trail, the trail right-of-way, floodplain and adjacent property owners. Members of DOT, TPD and Brevard city staff were on hand to answer any questions.

“It gave people who showed up a chance to hear the 30 percent plan and look at those plans,” said Buckwalter, adding that it gave the presenters a chance to have more in-depth conversations with property owners.

“We tempered a lot of fears and we facilitated a lot of excitement,” said Paul Ray of the Brevard Planning Department.

By John Lanier