ANAHEIM : City Puts Teeth in Trails Requirement

The City Council gave tentative approval Tuesday to an ordinance that will force individual home builders in the Anaheim Hills to install bicycle, equestrian and hiking trails.

Under the ordinance, individual builders will not be issued city permits for occupying their residence until the trails are installed. A similar ordinance already applies to the builders of housing tracts.

The city already has a 10-mile system of trails in Anaheim Hills.

Officials said the ordinance, which was approved by a 4-0 vote and will require a second council vote next week, will give teeth to a city requirement that all Anaheim Hills property owners donate a strip of land to the city for trails in return for permission to build. It applies to homes not already occupied.

Some area residents told the council that they oppose the trail system in general and the new ordinance in particular.

One resident, Chuck Sugett, told the council that with current land prices, the city is requiring builders to make a $30,000 to $50,000 donation of land.

Don Stolo, another resident, said the trails are strewn with litter, and graffiti mark fences. He added that the trails are more frequently used by vandals than equestrians or hikers.

But Mayor Fred Hunter and Councilman William D. Ehrle, both Anaheim Hills residents, said the trails are used extensively.

“I live there, I know,” Ehrle said. “People use them a lot.”