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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVII (E) Discussion/ Action re: Rails with Trail Report Agenda 4-20-99 Item VII E 'VENEER OF GOOD LIVING-PRIDE OF WEST ORANGE" MAYOR•COMMISSIONER S. SCOFF VANDERGRIFT Ocoee Conmis'siaNeRs .0 DANNY HOWELL CITY OF COEE PIO O ISRUSTY UST JOHN SON 150 N. LAKESHORE DRIVE COST ANDS SON Q OCOEL,FLORIDA 34761-2258 NANCY 1. PARKER (407)656-2322 CITY MANAGER nfy� ELLIS SHAPIRO fq Of a G008 Staff Report Date: March 25, 1999 To: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners From: Janet G. Shira, AICP, Community Relations/Projects Director Subject: Proposed Rails With Trails Project Issue Should the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners approve a series of trails which would connect the new Beech Recreation Center and neighborhoods along the Clarke Road corridor to the West Orange Trail? Backnrormd and Discussion Back in 1997, staff began researching whether there was a possibility of"sharing" the railroad right-of-way being used throughout Ocoee by Florida Central Railroad. The City specifically inquired about using some portion of the land for a recreational trail, knowing that it would run along an active railroad line. We first met with Ben Biscan of Florida Central Railroad, the company who has a contract with CSX to use the lines. Mr. Biscan said Florida Central would not be opposed to the City's use of the property for a trail, and suggested we gather some data on rails-with-trails projects before meeting with CSX representatives. Staff contacted Ken Bryan, Florida Director of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, to see what other cities in Florida had rails- with-trails. Mr. Bryan said other than Winter Garden, he did not know of any cities in Florida where a trail shared the right-of-way with an active railroad. And even in Winter Garden, they were working on ending the joint use. (The tracks have been relocated now in Winter Garden and they are currently removing the track through downtown.) Staff researched the agreement between the City of Winter Garden, Orange County, and CSX Railroad. It appears that Winter Garden and/or Orange County paid approximately $400,000 for about 16 acres in order to get the railroad to reroute the trains so they would not share the right- of-way through downtown Winter Garden. This is not an option in Ocoee, however, since there is really no place to relocate the track. We did, however, locate a national study done by the National Rails to Trails Conservancy which documented many successful rails with trails projects and found the option of sharing the right- of-way to be a safe method. At a subsequent meeting with Mr. Biscan, he said from Florida )2 Page 2 Rails-With-Trails Report March 25, 1999 Central Railroad's perspective, a public recreational trail would help with trespassers and vandalism to the rail and also maintenance issues. Mr. Biscan said CSX would want to sell the land to the City because of the liability and that the City would have to honor the agreement between CSX and Florida Central Railroad. He thought the railroad right-of-way through Ocoee was basically 60 feet and that the track ran in the middle of that. He said the railroad would need 15 feet on either side of the center of the track for their purposes. Mr. Biscan provided staff with the CSX contact. The City dealt with Janet Miranda, Regional Manager, CSX Real Property in Jacksonville. She said the City would need to provide her with a map of the railroad property that we were interested in, and then they could respond as far as whether they would be willing to sell the land and provide a rough estimate of cost. Ms. Miranda said they had railroad right-of-way maps dating back to 1917 detailing widths along the alignment. She asked Ocoee staff to send her a proposal with a map showing what area we were interested in and then they would research it from their end. Bruce Nordquist, Abra Home, and I developed a plan which outlined what part of the railroad right-of-way the City was interested in and how it would link to the West Orange Trail. (See attached map.) We sent the proposal to CSX and received a short note back (see attached) that CSX was not interested in selling the property at this time. Recommendation It would be staffs recommendation that although we may not be able to purchase the railroad right-of-way at this point in time, we continue to pursue the trails both up Clarke Road and through the Beech Recreation Center park area that would ultimately connect to the West Orange Trail across Clarcona-Ococe Road. If this is something the City Commission is interested in pursuing, staff will work to include it as part of the Recreation Master Plan, Comprehensive Plan, and any other necessary documents and will begin developing more detailed plans to denote land area needed for the trail, where it would best be placed, and so on. Once these plans are approved at the staff level, they would then be forwarded for City Commission approval. cc: Ellis Shapiro, City Manager Bruce Nordquist, Recreation Director Jim Shira, P.E., City Engineer/Utilities Director Russ Wagner, AICP,Planning Director Bob Smith, Public Works Director Abra Home, AICP, Principal Planner 4. "CENTER OF GOOD LIVING-PRIDE OF WEST ORANGE" MAYOR•COMMISSIONER S.SCOTT VOM Ocoee o.mI ]ONEns A• CITY OF OCOEE HOWELL 0 SCOIT ANDERSON \N_____ �: _ 150 N. 07)LAKESHORE 56-23DRIVE SCOTT A.GLASS {{{���� Q OCOEE,FLORIDA 34761-2258 NANCY J.PARKER • • o (407)656-2322On M.m4cte `rV ELLIS SIIAPIRO Of GOOG Memorandum Date: October 28, 1998 To: Ellis Shapiro, City Manager �p From: Janet Shira, Community Relations/Projects Director Subject: Rails With Trails Attached is a letter I received yesterday from Janet Miranda of CSX Railroad. This letter is in response to the inquiry the City made regarding the possibility of purchasing part of the CSX land through Ocoee for the purpose of creating a shared rails with trails project. Please let me know if you want me to put together a summary of our efforts for the Recreation Advisory Board and/or the City Commission, or if 1 need to do anything further with this. cc: Jim Shira, City Engineer/Utilities Director Bruce Nordquist, Recreation Director Russ Wagner, Planning Director Bob Smith,Public Works Director 301 West Bay Street SX Suite 800,S/C 1915 Jacksonville, FL 32202 (904)633-4502 REAL PROPERTY Telefax:(904)633-4581 Internet: Miranda)@CSX.com Janet M. Miranda Regional Manager October 14, 1998 Ms. Janet G. Shira Community Relations/Projects Director City of Ocoee 150 N. Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, FL 34761-2258 RE: Possible Rails With Trails Project in Ocoee Dear Ms. Shira: Due to several factors, and especially due to some of our new policies, it has been decided the Ocoee project is not one we can recommend at this time. I do wish you and the City continued success with your recreational efforts. 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