Black Mountain Access - your help is urgently needed!!!

[Al_HikesAZ]

Black Mountain Access

The Cave Creek Town Council will meet Monday 2/6 at 7:00 to decide the fate of access to Black Mountain. The homeowners and their lawyers will be out in force. If anyone can make it, your presence may help. Hopefully someone involved in the liberation of Pinnacle Peak will be able to attend and explain how that has not hurt the homeowners.

From the Arizona Republic Sunday 2/5 page B 4. (I could not find it on AZCentral.com.)

"After years of uncertainty, the Cave Creek Town Council on Monday will consider action that would legally give hikers a public trail to the top of Black Mountain.

The council will consider activating an easement, giving hikers a public right of way through a web of private properties that encircle the mountain that divides Cave Creek and Carefree.

Black Mountain homeowners have resisted previous moves, fearing that the town’s landmark would be overrun with recreationists.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at Cave Creek Town Hall 37622 N. Cave Creek Road. "

Ps. Cave Creek may “save” its landmark from recreationists only to lose it’s long time character and soul.

[hikeaz]

In response to al1inaz's reply:

Yeah, who'd have thought, 30 years ago, that they'd invite in the "bikers" and attempt exclude those pesky recreationists.

Why do those people MOVE there anyway?

[Trishness]

In response to al1inaz's reply:

Why do those people MOVE there anyway?

Two reasons, affluence and views.

[Al_HikesAZ]

The Cave Creek Town Council voted last night to activate the easement at School House Road. The Town Clerk will type and post the minutes from last nights meeting in the near future. In the meantime the Town Manager is taking the necessary steps to implement the easement. This could easily take 30 days. And if a homeowner initiates legal action it could take longer. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that any action by a homeowner would just be a delaying tactic. This easement has been in place for a long time. (and see Mayor Francia's comments in the attached AZ Republic article).

Here is yesterday’s article from AZCentral.com:

Hiking trail to Black Mtn. considered
Town may OK access for public
Thomas Ropp
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 6, 2006 12:00 AM
CAVE CREEK - After years of uncertainty, the Cave Creek Town Council today will consider action that would legally give hikers a public trail to the top of Black Mountain.

The council will consider activating an easement, giving hikers a public right of way through a web of private properties that encircles the mountain that divides Cave Creek from Carefree.

Black Mountain homeowners have resisted previous moves, fearing that the town's landmark would be overrun with recreationists.

Cave Creek Mayor Vincent Francia said hikers are going up the north side of the mountain anyway, along the School House Road alignment, essentially the same federal patent easement that could be activated by the council.

"If we remain status quo, we will still have the hikers going up and down the mountain and crossing into people's property," Francia said. "This is a way of saying, 'OK, it's legal,' and then making sure hikers stay on the trail."

Two years ago, Cave Creek and Carefree were denied ownership of Maricopa County's 250-acre preserve at the top of Black Mountain because the communities refused to provide public access.

Francia said that if the easement is activated by the council, step two would be to renew talks with the county about the town's taking over ownership of the mountaintop preserve.

Cave Creek owns the right of way to a second easement on the south side of the mountain, off Stagecoach Pass.