Above: Residents of The Firs, an independent retirement facility on Lilly Road in Olympia, have quietly worked for over two years to gain safe access from the edge of the facility’s property to the Chehalis Western trail system. Many of the residents use canes, walkers, wheelchairs and motorized scooters. Negotiations between the City of Olympia and property owners of the facility have stalled.
City Neglected to Obtain Right of Way, Property Owner Denies City Access
Ensign
Road Neighborhood Pathway Project Received $162,000
Residents May Have Title II American Disabilities Act Case
By
Janine Gates
Little Hollywood
A Little Hollywood Land Use
Investigation
Residents of The Firs, an independent retirement living
facility for seniors at 426 Lilly Road in Olympia, want improved access to a public trail that is
so close and yet so far.
For over two years, they have patiently worked with their
property management representatives, MBK Senior Living, and the City of Olympia
to create safe access to the Chehalis Western trail system trail.
The hazardous connection is from the end of the
property’s sidewalk at the end of Ensign Road to a steep, 65 foot dirt path
that drops several inches, then dips down into the middle of a drainage ditch,
and rises again to meet the trail. Another potential access point is also difficult and blocked by a parking lot curb and a rough lawn.
The Chehalis Western trail system offers 56 miles of
paved, uninterrupted trails, allowing access to regional businesses, homes,
work, and recreational activities.
On a regular basis, dozens of able-bodied staff and
residents, including bicyclists, access the area near The Firs to reach medical offices, the
Memorial Clinic, assisted living facilities, St. Peter Hospital, Kaiser
Permanente (formerly Group Health), and a nearby apartment complex.
Many seniors who are disabled cannot negotiate the drop from the sidewalk to the dirt path, like Manuel
Gutierrez, who is an amputee and uses a motorized wheelchair. He lives in a nearby apartment complex and drives to the edge of the
sidewalk to watch others access the trail.
Brave motorized scooter riders access the trail either by driving to the next accessible
entry point near Kaiser Permanente to the north, about one fourth of a mile
away, or to an asphalt pathway to the south near an apartment complex, the Olympia Crest Apartments, also about one fourth of a mile away.
The intersection of Lilly Road and Martin Way is the second busiest intersection in Thurston County.
Above: As another resident of The Firs drives by on his motorized scooter, Ken Lewis, a resident of The Firs, stands in the middle of the dirt path that leads from a sidewalk with a several inch drop off to the Chehalis Western trail.
Above: City of Olympia councilmember Clark Gilman, center, met with Sherman Beverly, left, and Freeman Stickney, right, and about 20 other residents of The Firs in June to discuss their request for safe access to the Chehalis Western Trail.
Beverly, a former resident council president at The Firs, is a professor emeritus of Northeastern Illinois University, and has recently published a book. In June, he shared with Gilman that he is nearing his 90th birthday and encounters difficulty accessing the trail.
Residents
Petition City for Access
The city approved $162,000 for the Ensign Road neighborhood pathway in 2016 and has been supportive of the residents’ request for access.
The city prepared to begin work on the project this summer, however, the property owner, Olympia Propco, LLC, denied the city right-of-way, thus blocking the project.
Clark Gilman was chair of the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory committee when he first heard about the issue. He is now a council member.
Gilman and Little Hollywood were recently invited to The Firs to take a look at the steep dirt path and hear the concerns of about 20 residents gathered to discuss the issue.
Freeman Stickney, a former resident council president at The Firs, spent his career in the Air Force
and the National Weather Service.
He says a significant number of the 130
residents at The Firs, including more than half a dozen who use power chairs, would like to use the trail for exercise and enjoyment.
In September of 2015, Stickney, along with residents Sherman
Beverly, Jr., and Ken Lewis, presented a petition to the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Committee, signed by 85 residents asking the Olympia City Council to include
their request for access in its neighborhood pathways program to extend the
sidewalk in the 2016 budget.
The petition was acknowledged, and forwarded to the
city council for their consideration.
“A few of the residents with power chairs have
mentioned to me that they would use the Chehalis Western trail to reach
businesses on Martin Way and the South Sound Shopping Center. The old railroad
grade is level, and much easier and safer to traverse than Lilly Road,” said
Stickney.
“The Firs highlights access to the trail in their advertisements. They have even organized trail walks, weather
permitting – for those able bodied!” he added.
Gilman said that while it appears the property owner
thinks that space is valuable for possible expansion, he doubted that the
city would approve one. The drainage ditch causing the dip in
the trail is actually a stormwater retention pond, and a wetland the size of about 10 to 15 acres is located
directly adjacent the trail.
During winter months, at least 12 inches of water is
in the ditch, making access to the trail difficult for everyone.
“I think it would be good public relations for MBK Senior Living and The Firs to allow the city access. It’s not taking away anything from them. We could provide a nice bench and plaque on it, letting everyone know that they allowed this to happen. Let’s get this done, especially before it starts raining again,” added resident Mike Flothe.
City Realizes Its Own Oversight to Obtain Right of Way
Records indicate that the city has worked hard for
two years, making numerous attempts to contact the appropriate representative
for Olympia Propco, LLC, which is based in California, and proactively
negotiate for the area.
Through the city’s Site Plan Review Committee, city
staff reviewed the area and worked out the requirements needed for approval of
the trail development and submitted its pathway design to the property owner.
The city is asking Olympia Propco, LLC to dedicate a
60 foot right-of-way for Ensign Road, as required by a development condition of
approval that was apparently never completed, and dedicating roughly 18 feet by
50 feet of pathway right-of-way.
The facility was built in 1984.
The city realized its oversight when residents of
The Firs made their petition for access. It has offered the owner a relatively
small, but undetermined potential land tax reduction and offered to pay Olympia
Propco, LLC a nominal fee of $10,000 for 13,897 square feet to expedite the process.
In 2015, the onsite executive director of The Firs’
property management company, MBK Senior Living, wrote a letter to the city
supporting its residents, saying, “An ADA compliant trail access would be
greatly appreciated and welcomed to our neighborhood and The Firs.”
Residents of The Firs believe they have a strong
case with regard to Title II of the American Disabilities Act (ADA), which
covers state and local government activities.
Title II requires that state and local governments
give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their
programs, services, and activities such as public education, employment,
transportation, recreation, health care, social services, courts, voting, and
town meetings.
Lack of access to the trail for those with
disabilities covers several of those categories.
A MBK Senior Living representative based in
California, Kevin Hanlon, wrote an April 7, 2017 email to city surveyor Ladd Cluff,
seemingly extinguishing all hope for the seniors, disabled, and others members
of the public from being able to safely access the trail.
“Being a senior community, we are extra cautious and
sensitive to anything that could possibly make our property less secure. We’re
very concerned a new access trail point might bring in greater activity and
create a potentially less safe area. It is our belief at this time, that an
access point in this area would not be prudent,” wrote Hanlon.
Cluff responded that that the response was very
disappointing.
“The pathway would have a significant positive
impact to our community. We will inform the public stakeholders that the
pathway project is unable to move forward. Our message will be that the
property owners are not willing to grant the public the necessary right-of-way
for the pathway. We hope your position changes in the future,” wrote Cluff.
Max Rheinhardt, the new executive director for The
Firs, recently addressed residents about the issue and on two occasions,
suggested in meetings that the property owner may fence off the area in question
for liability reasons.
He had little to say in a brief interview with
Little Hollywood, except to say that some residents do not understand the
situation.
Ken Lewis, 85, a retired manager of the hospital
licensing program under the state department of health, has spearheaded effort
for safe access for the past two years.
Lewis is active and regularly walks and bikes the
Chehalis Western Trail. His wife is not able to access the trail, and the
couple recently decided to move from The Firs to another retirement community
that has access to trails.
“Fencing off the area would be horrible, and the worst possible, unintended consequence of our efforts for safe access. I even wrote Olympia Propco, LLC in June about my decision, and I never received a communication back. We gave The Firs notice that we will vacate our apartment with the lack of trail access as the primary reason. They need to know there will be consequences for their failure to resolve this issue,” said Lewis.
Above: Ken Lewis, center, speaks to Councilmember Clark Gilman and residents of The Firs at a meeting in June about the the proposed pathway on Ensign Road.
Ensign Neighborhood
Pathway Application Funded
The residents of The Firs are not alone in their
desire for access to the trail.
The nearby Olympia Transitional Care and
Rehabilitation skilled nursing care facility has over 100 residents and over
130 employees. The facility shares a parking lot with The Firs and the trail is
frequently used by its staff and residents throughout the year.
Its administrator, Ben Jensen, wrote a letter to the
city in 2015 in support of The Firs’ resident request for safe access to
the trail from Ensign Road.
Coincidentally, and unbeknownst to the residents of The
Firs at the time, a neighborhood pathway application to the city had been
independently written and submitted in mid-2015 by Keith Edgerton, on behalf of
the Woodland Trail Greenway Association.
Edgerton works across the street from The Firs as Providence
St. Peter Hospital’s Sustainability Coordinator.
St. Peter Hospital is the largest private employer
in Thurston County and has an active commute trip reduction program.
“Creating a safe trail connection would greatly
improve all neighborhood business and St. Peter Hospital's ability to encourage
staff to use alternate forms of transportation in order to reduce congestion in
this area. This pathway would encourage residents (including the elderly) to
access the trail for health and wellness benefits,” wrote Edgerton in his application.
“Whether it’s cyclists, persons with disabilities,
moms pushing baby strollers or elderly people trying to access the trail, the
existing trail connection poses access limitations and safety concerns.”
The project received $162,000 in
2016 and the go-ahead from city council. However, the money has been sitting in the Capital
Facilities Plan budget, on hold, ever since.
Asked what could happen to this funding, Michelle
Swanson, city staff for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, says there are no
other Neighborhood Pathways projects scheduled.
“This gives us the flexibility to reserve the
funding for the Ensign Pathway for a while, in case the property owners decide
to come back to the negotiating table. Were there another project in the
pipeline, we probably would have moved on from building that project.
“As we told them, we do hope they’ll come back to
the table. We believe in the value of this project,” she said.
Above:
John Gessner has lived at The Firs for about two and a half years. He uses a motorized scooter and must go out of
his way to use alternative access points to the trail, either behind Kaiser
Permanente or to the south, near Olympia Crest Apartments, along Lilly Road. He says there are five or six residents with scooters who would like to use the trail, but don't, due to the lack of safe access.
Last month, Gessner took a spill off of his scooter at the
intersection of Lilly and Ensign Road. Luckily, several passersby immediately jumped
out of their cars to assist him and right his scooter. He was shook up and slightly injured. Gessner wants trail access closest to the facility so he doesn’t have to use
the streets to access services. “I was lucky. My scooter was laying on top of me. I wouldn't have been able to get it off of me if it hadn't been for those folks.”
