Valley Center trails, part deux

Here's what the County has on file for Valley Center

Valley Center Community Trails and Pathways Plan

Trails: The Community Connection

The Community Trails Master Plan will be utilized to develop a system of interconnected regional and community trails and pathways. These trails and pathways are intended to address an established public need for recreation and transportation, but will also provide health and quality of life benefits associated with hiking, biking, and horseback riding throughout the County’s biologically diverse environments.

Community trails serve a different function than regional trails, which are focused on the provision of long linear distances. Instead, community trails are “local public facilities” in close proximity to residents that provide transportation, recreation, access, infrastructure, linkages and safe routes throughout a community. The Community Trails Master Plan (CTMP) involves both trail development and management on public, semi-public and private lands. The CTMP has established two forms of non-motorized facilities called “Trails” and “Pathways” that provide passive recreational, and alternative modes of transportation.

Trails are typically away from vehicular roads that are primarily recreational in nature but can also serve as an alternative mode of transportation. They are soft-surface facilities for single or multiple uses by pedestrians, equestrians, and mountain bicyclists.

Pathways are a non-motorized transportation facility located within a parkway or road right of way. A riding and hiking trail located in the road right of way is considered a pathway. They are soft-surfaced facilities intended to serve both circulation and recreation purposes. Pathways help make critical connections and are an integral part of a functional trail system.

COMMUNITY TRAIL STATEMENT

A primary goal of the community is to establish a comprehensive community trail and pathway system for non-motorized, multi-modal travel and recreation within the Valley Center Community Planning Area that provides connectivity to the Village Core, to public facilities such as schools and parks, to adjacent communities, and to regional trails.

Within Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve, there are approximately fourteen miles of trails currently in use. Hellhole Canyon is not in the Valley Center Community Park and Recreation District boundaries. Outside of Hellhole Canyon, there are no existing trails in Valley Center; however, there are numerous offers of dedication and I.O.D.s (Irrevocable Offers of Dedication) for trail easements at various locations throughout the planning area. These IODs are not connected and are short pieces of trail dedications all over Valley Center with no continuity and are generally not useable.

The Valley Center Trails Association (VCTA) is an independent non-profit organization that works in coordination with the Valley Center Parks and Recreation District (VCPRD) to promote the provision of trails in the planning area. In May 2000, the Valley Center Community Planning Group approved a draft trail plan, based on public rights-of-way that are intended to be incorporated into the Community Trails Master Plan. Refer to the Valley Center Community Trails map for specific details.

Current plans for Valley Center trails include:

􀂃 Valley Center Road improvement Phases I and II will include pathways.

􀂃 A 1.3-mile “Demonstration Trail” around the Valley Center Community Services District (VCCSD) property located at the intersection of Lilac Road and Valley Center Road, near the Community Hall. This “Demonstration Trail” is intended to function as a prototype for future trails in Valley Center. The construction of this trail is pending appropriate funding.

􀂃 An important aspect of the Community trail plan is developing a connection to Daley Ranch in the City of Escondido.

THE NEED FOR TRAILS

The community trail needs are based on an equation established by the Trails System Assessment (TSA) in 2001, which identified a minimum baseline level of service for each community by population. The Baseline Level of Service or Trail Need is 0.8 miles of trail per 1,000 people.

The “Trail Need” is the minimum length of trail miles (baseline level of service) for each Community and Subregional Plan Area. The TSA calculations for community trail needs are as follows:

􀂃 Trail Need = (Community Population /1,000 residents x 0.8 miles of trails)

􀂃 2000 Trail Need = (2000 population /1,000 residents x 0.8 miles of trails)

􀂃 2020 Trail Need = (2020 population /1,000 residents x 0.8 miles of trails)

Link to plan