This might be part of the opposition’s undisclosed motives against the PATH in Mason Mill. They’ve adopted it as their very own personal dog park and don’t want the intervention of any of those annoying rules that make it safe for others.

Medlock resident since 1988.

Also as a footnote. Calling any of those trees back there “old growth” only shows ignorance . The area was logged like almost all of the south around the turn of the last century. If you want to see old growth go to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in NC. Old growth trees are MUCH bigger.

A bit more history: As another poster noted, this property has been threatened with residential development. I remember in about 91-92, there was talk that it would be declared “surplus” by the County and sold. As I recall, that triggered the initial push by some Medlock and Mason Mill neighborhood residents to have the land “reactivated” as a County-maintained park, with “developed” park amenities. I believe that it was this push that eventually led to some neighborhood residents asking PATH to get involved in the mid 90’s.

Although people who currently oppose the PATH say that the Medlock and Mason Mill neighborhoods have always cherished the land in its “wild” state, that is not entirely correct. The area in the 90’s periodically had encampments of homeless people. I hesitate to speak for the entire area, but at the time I believe that many of my Medlock neighbors thought the wild land was a source of crime and a liability to the neighborhood, not an asset.

And a final point: I am puzzled by the Medlock residents who are up in arms about the trail and mourning the lost of “their” woodland. Except for the few people whose houses backed up to the land, access to the land from the Medlock neighborhood was quite difficult. It either involved cutting through several people’s back yards along the creek, or hiking in on a power line right of way and squeezing through a fence. Accessing the land without trespassing involved driving all the way around to Mason Mill Road — about 1 1/2 miles from Medlock, mostly along 4-lane Clairmont road which at the time did not have sidewalks. My observation was that Medlock residents did not use the land much at all; I believe that I was one of the few. (Many of my neighbors actively avoided the land because of the perceived threat from the “hobos.”) If nothing else, the trail is going to make the land accessible to all the surrounding neighborhoods, including Medlock.