The Yamhelas Westsider Trail is back in the news. The last time I checked in on this project that would build a new 17-mile rail-trail in Yamhill County between McMinnville and Forest Grove, it was mired in controversy.
Advocates for the path ultimately lost that round in 2021 when it “became a target of far-right extremism” and anti-trail County Commissioners voted to repeal the project’s land use application. The project largely sat on the shelf until late October of this year. That’s when Mary Starrett, one of the commissioners who led the previous opposition effort, partnered with one of the other two commissioners to support a draft ordinance that would strip the project from the county’s transportation system plan. The move came as a surprise to trail supporters.
If the trail project is stripped from the TSP, it would essentially move the idea back to square one.
Commissioner Starrett has said she’s against the trail because it goes against property rights of rural farmers and that building a public trail along former rail lines would violate Oregon land use law (it doesn’t, and the permit has stood up to Land Use Board of Appeals scrutiny). She’s backed by groups like the Oregon Family Farm Association, who’ve published a website that details their grievances. Many farmers in the county use the abandoned rail right-of-way to graze livestock and are not keen to see bicycle riders and joggers using the land between their farms.
Friends of Yamhelas Westsider Trail, a nonprofit who sees the trail as a vital link for walkers and rollers that would complement other rail-trails in the region, has responded quickly and is rallying members and supporters to fight the move.
“Now is the time to act. Let’s make our voices heard in support of Rails To Trails. Share your opinion with the Planning Committee. Make plans to present testimony at public hearings on the issue,” reads an email from the group. “Now is the time to make sure the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners does not kill the Yamhelas Westsider Trail once and for all.”
That draft ordinance will be heard by the Yamhill County Planning Commission tonight at 7:00 pm in McMinnville. Jester hopes to pack the meeting with pro-trail advocates and save it from the dustbin.
“With family in McMinnville and having lived both there and in Newberg, having grown up in western Washington County, and having repeatedly ridden similar trails in different parts of the Northwest and especially along this stretch, I know the potential for this trail project firsthand,” Jester shared with BikePortland. He also sees it as a way to smooth over Oregon’s urban/rural divide by encouraging more people to access public spaces together — instead of just zooming by each other on highways.
After being heard at Planning Commission, the issue will return to the Board of Commissioners for a final vote. Learn more at SaveOurTrail.com.
Thanks for reading.
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Most of us unfamiliar with the project will likely conclude that this trail is an obviously good thing. What arguments are opponents making?
Yeah I shd have included that in the article. I’m away from my desk now but will add more about the opposition to it soon.
The High Country News article linked in the second paragraph is very good (as are most things HCN), though a bit long
I sincerely hope this doesn’t go back to square 1. This trail would be an incredible connection to the Nestucca Access Road. I rarely go to these small towns because I don’t want to drive there. I hope they find a way to embrace bicycle tourism ala Independence.