Gaffney Lane Neighborhood Association

Castleberry Park Pathway

Sep 25, 2001

Castleberry Park Pathway
At the March general membership meeting there was discussion involving a City walkway that connected a road in Castleberry Park subdivision to Meyers Road.
The School District had requested that a pathway connecting Meyers Road to Castleberry Loop be reopened for students who walk from Pioneer Ridge Apartments to Gaffney Lane Elementary School.
The District had discontinued bus service to the apartment complex recently. This was due to growth in the area and because the complex is within one mile of the school as mandated by the State.
A couple of years prior, neighbors surrounding the pathway petitioned the City to have the right of way closed for security and safety reasons and the petition was approved. As a result, the pathway was closed off and camouflaged so one doesn?’t know it is there.
At the March GLNA general membership meeting those in attendance voted to keep the pathway closed and a letter regarding this issue was written and forwarded to the City.
The issue resurfaced in July and was brought forward to the City Commission. There
they listened to testimony from City staff who recommended reopening the pathway. The
recommendation included adding lighting and modifying the slope of the sidewalk at a great deal of expense to the taxpayers. They also listened to neighbors who had attended two separate commission meetings to convince the commissioners that it was unsafe to reopen. Additionally, property owners on either side of the path had filed a vacancy request including paying a fee, to officially close the path yet still provide public easement to the sewer line.
At the second commission meeting the commissioners unanimously voted for the
closure of the pathway.