Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition

1
Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition

• Overview
• September 2008

2
The Vision
3
The Benefits Challenges of a Trail

• Benefits
• Enhances local routes to school and work
• Connects the communities of the valley
• Improves bicycle safety
• Promotes a responsible wine tasting travel
  alternative
• Provides an exercise/healthy lifestyle choice
• Reduces the valley carbon footprint
• Educates the community about our vineyards
• Spotlights the beauty of the valley
• Challenges
• 150-200 landowners will have to agree to provide
  easements to make it happen

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The Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition

• 501c(3) created September 2008 to implement
  option B of the Napa Valley Greenway Feasibility
  Study commissioned by the Napa County
  Transportation and Planning Agency (NCTPA)
• Phase One Engineer and build a 22 mile multiuse
  Vine Trail from Dunaweal Lane in Calistoga to
  Trancas Street in Napa

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NCTPA Greenway Feasibility Study

• Commissioned by NCTPA 12/2007
• Funded by
• Napa County
• American Canyon
• Calistoga
• Napa City
• St. Helena
• Yountville
• Confirms Feasibility
• Describes three alternative routes
• West Side (Hwy 29)
• Mid-valley (Along the Napa River or through
  vineyards)
• East Side (Silverado Trail)

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Board Members Being Approached Now

• Founding Board Members (initial cash resource
  support)
• Land Trust of Napa County
• Napa Valley Grape Growers
• Napa Valley Vintners
• Additional Board Members
• California Department of Fish and Game
• Friends of the Napa River
• Napa Bicycle Coalition
• Napa County Farm Bureau
• Napa County Transportation and Planning Committee
• NCTPA Bicycle Advisory Committee
• Napa County Regional Parks and Open Space
  District
• Napa Valley Conference Visitors Bureau
• Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance
• Napa Valley Sierra Club
• Napa Valley Taxpayers Alliance
• 3 Community representatives

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Committees

• Engineering Oversee the engineering of the trail
  including route selection, engineering and
  construction firm selection and design
  considerations.
• Community Community outreach to affected land
  owners to solicit their support and deal with
  landowner specific right of way issues and
  concerns.
• Legal Develop legal, indemnification, insurance
  and liability plans and documents to protect
  landowners and obtain the required route access
  permissions.
• Grant Solicitation Work to identify and secure
  available public funding for a portion of the
  Trails cost.
• Capital Campaign Organize and conduct fund
  raising of the private portion of the Trail
  capital.

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Membership

• Membership in the Vine Trail Coalition and
  service on any of the committees are open to any
  individual who resides full or part time in Napa
  County.
• All members of the Coalition must serve on at
  least one committee and provide a substantial
  level of effort in furthering the Coalition's
  goals.

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Logistics

• Mandatory monthly board meetings open to members
• Committee meetings as needed
• Periodic public input meetings
• One on one and small group discussions with
  affected landowners
• Publicly accessible website at
• www.napavalleyvinetrail.org

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Landowner Concerns to Solve CRPL

• Crime
• Studies of existing trails show crime on trails
  is almost always lower than crime in the
  surrounding community
• Implement best practices for the Vine Trail
• Real Estate Values
• Values around existing Trails are modestly higher
  and days on the market modestly lower
• Make sure we have a robust maintenance program
• Privacy
• Work with landowners to provide site specific
  screening, fencing, etc.
• Liability California Civil Code 846
• No Liability to owner for public recreational use
  of private land
• Exceptions
• Willful malicious conduct by landowner
• Owner invited guests
• Users for whom or similar to whom the landowner
  has charged a fee
• Provide Indemnification agreements, liability
  insurance coverage

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California Civil Code 846

• An owner of any estate or any other interest in
  real property, whether possessory or
  nonpossessory, owes no duty of care to keep the
  premises safe for entry or use by others for any
  recreational purpose or to give any warning of
  hazardous conditions, uses of, structures, or
  activities on such premises to persons entering
  for such purpose, except as provided in this
  section.
• A "recreational purpose," as used in this
  section, includes such activities as fishing,
  hunting, camping, water sports, hiking,
  spelunking, sport parachuting, riding, including
  animal riding, snowmobiling, and all other types
  of vehicular riding, rock collecting,
  sightseeing, picnicking, nature study, nature
  contacting, recreational gardening, gleaning,
  hang gliding, winter sports, and viewing or
  enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic,
  natural, or scientific sites.
• An owner of any estate or any other interest in
  real property, whether possessory or
  nonpossessory, who gives permission to another
  for entry or use for the above purpose upon the
  premises does not thereby (a) extend any
  assurance that the premises are safe for such
  purpose, or (b) constitute the person to whom
  permission has been granted the legal status of
  an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is
  owed, or (c) assume responsibility for or incur
  liability for any injury to person or property
  caused by any act of such person to whom
  permission has been granted except as provided in
  this section.
• This section does not limit the liability which
  otherwise exists (a) for willful or malicious
  failure to guard or warn against a dangerous
  condition, use, structure or activity or (b) for
  injury suffered in any case where permission to
  enter for the above purpose was granted for a
  consideration other than the consideration, if
  any, paid to said landowner by the state, or
  where consideration has been received from others
  for the same purpose or (c) to any persons who
  are expressly invited rather than merely
  permitted to come upon the premises by the
  landowner. Nothing in this section creates a
  duty of care or ground of liability for injury to
  person or property.

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Honoring the Donors

• We need to develop create programs to recognize
  those landowners that make the Vine Trail
  possible
• Reduction in property taxes for easement grants
• Recognition on a trail donor wall
• Annual thank you gift
• Annual raffle
• ???

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Costs

• The Engineering Committee will be responsible for
  producing a full cost estimate
• A rule of thumb is that multiuse trails cost
  approximately 1 million per mile
• Phase 1 is 22 miles so 22 million is our best
  guess
• We believe that approximately half the cost can
  be funded with state and federal programs
• Ongoing maintenance is estimated at 250 thousand
  per year including trail patrols, upkeep,
  insurance and an amortization for trail
  resurfacing every 9 years

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Our Pledge

• The process will be open and inclusive
• No vineyard land will be taken out of production
• All easements, use agreements, etc. will be
  voluntary
• Provisions will be made for ongoing maintenance
  upkeep
• The result will be as beautiful as our Napa Valley

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Next Steps

• Agree to have your organization join the board
• Assign a board representative
• Pick our monthly meeting schedule
• Suggest community board members committee
  chairs
• Begin landowner meetings
• Raise for engineering contract development