CYPRESS : City Agrees to Close Access to Bike Trail

In response to a request by the Cypress Homeowners Assn., the City Council on Monday agreed to close off two pedestrian access points into the Stanton Channel Bike Trail.

Cypress Homeowners Assn. President Richard Price presented a resolution asking the council to shut off the path entrances near the Cypress Village townhouses between Holder Street and Knott Avenue. Price said members had a variety of safety concerns about the trail, which is open to the general public.

The council unanimously approved closing the two points on the condition that the homeowner’s association pick up the costs of wrought-iron fences with gates at the access points. Cost for both gates is estimated at $1,500, which Price said the group has agreed to purchase. All association members and the Cypress Police Department will be given keys to the gates.

“I think it is a real good compromise for the situation down there,” Councilman Richard Partin said. But he added that the council expects some protests from people who regularly use the trail.

The action comes several months after residents living along a different portion of the Stanton Channel asked that it be closed completely. They complained that the 1-mile section between Holder and Valley View streets provided criminals access to their homes, a point which the Police Department disputed.

The city conducted a survey of the residents living in the area to see if they would be willing to foot the bill to make their homes more secure. Several suggestions were made, from installing lighting to raising the walls which separate the trail from the homes, but a solution could not be agreed upon by the homeowners.

After several months of discussions, the council finally refused to close access to the path completely, instead leaving it up to individual homeowners to decide if they wanted to make security improvements.