Pedestrians in Santa Cruz have claimed a victory.
A hotly contested alleyway linking Mission Plaza with the High Street cul de sac will remain open to foot and bike traffic between the hours of at least 6am and 10pm. The court-arbitrated compromise marks the end of three-year struggle with absentee property owner John Mahony on one side and neighbors supported by bike/pedestrian group People Power on the other.
The alley is less than a quarter mile long, but it’s been the site of serious neighborhood drama. In 2007, citing theft to his rentals adjoining the walkway, Mahony bought the path and its property rights from Holy Cross Catholic Church and immediately boarded it up against public access. Residents soon called for help from non-motorized transit advocates People Power, a group with a history of protecting walkways.
“A lot of other pathways have been closed over the years as property changes hands,” says People Power president Micah Posner. “By keeping public paths open we create a community getting to know themselves and their environment during transportation. It gives a sense of space that we’re in danger of losing.”
Neighbors and representatives from the activist group tore down fences constructed at the entrance and exit after no more than a few days on the grounds that after at least 80 years of use the alley should be considered a public easement.
Attorney Gary Redenbacher was persuaded to work on the neighbors’ behalf for a discounted fee. The barriers were called a public nuisance; Redenbacher and Posner held that this argument gave the public a legal right to remove them.
“We knew that we had a good case, and the law was on our side,” says Posner, citing a law that protects paths in use before 1975. “We were in no hurry. We removed the wall that the landlord put up, so the pathway has been open to us for the whole time.”
Landlord John Mahoney was unable to be reached for comment.
“All of us who lived there had never experienced any problems with [the walkway],” says Judy Ziegler, who led the initial neighborhood movement. “It’s part of the historical heart of the town, where the nuns walked on the way to the convent at the church.”
Posner says having the alley open makes walking an easier choice, encouraging community building and alleviating traffic congestion at nearby Holy Cross Elementary School.
A celebration of the neighborhood pathway will be held on Sunday, July 11. Festivities include a bake sale and historic walk of the Mission area led by noted historian Ross Gibson at 12pm. The public is invited, and donations will go toward legal fees incurred. For more information contact People Power at 831.425.0665.
