Haines Borough Assembly member George Campbell’s dream of creating a motorized recreation area near town is still alive, and now is going to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.
Though the Planning Commission slammed the idea and the assembly has heard virtually no public support for a motorized recreation area in the townsite, Campbell resurrected the plan at the Sept. 9 assembly meeting.
On Tuesday, Campbell moved to direct the parks and recreation committee to research and designate a motorized use area near downtown. The committee has until Nov. 10 to develop an implementation plan and deliver it to the assembly.
Campbell’s motion also directed the manager to provide staff support to the committee for the project.
Assembly member Debra Schnabel questioned why Campbell keeps pressing the issue. “What is driving this? Prior to your making the proposal, I have never been made aware of any user group that has called for this,” Schnabel said.
Resident Thom Ely submitted a letter to the assembly asking them to drop the issue, as it seems to be Campbell’s personal mission rather than the will of the community.
“This was a dumb idea when first proposed by Mr. Campbell. It is still a dumb idea. The Planning Commission said so. Please respect the Planning Commission’s decision and stop wasting our time and resources on minority special interest agenda items. Mr. Campbell can create an ATV park on his property out the road,” Ely wrote.
Campbell referred to creating a motorized use area as a “pre-emptive strike” to protect against rules and regulations. Historically speaking, Campbell claimed, regulations move from east to west and south to north.
“The motorized users have been shut down on the East Coast almost entirely except for very small areas,” he said.
Creating an area to separate motorized users from non-motorized recreationists will prevent future conflicts, as the assembly has heard plenty of testimony about the incompatibility of the two groups, Campbell said.
“I’m looking forward for 15-20 years when the kids that are growing up today, in 15 years they’re not going to have a place to ride. Their families are not going to have a place to go,” he said.
Campbell clarified he only wants the land to be designated at this point, not developed. “I am not intending, nor do I plan to bring forth a motion to have this body designate funds to develop it,” he said.
Parks and recreation committee member Ron Jackson said Nov. 10 might be too tight a deadline to get a solid plan together.
“Thinking about a public process to gauge peoples’ reaction to something maybe in their neighborhood and so forth could take a lot longer than that…. I think the process is more important to get some broad support for it rather than to rush it through because of a deadline,” Jackson said.