Controversial Footpath Plan Set Aside for Now

A proposal by the Safe Routes to School Committee to clear a footpath off Linden Lane to Pine Street is on hold.

Township Committeewoman Kathy Abbott said it was clear at a meeting Tuesday the majority of Linden Lane residents do not want walking access to Pine Street.

Linden Lane is a private road, and Laura Conover-Ferchak, president of the Linden Lane Association, has said all homeowners have direct liability should something happen. Homeowners that surround a nearby pond have further liability because they own the pond, she said.

Abbott said an eight-foot wide walking easement is on the deeds of two properties, one on Pine Street and one on Linden Lane, and the easement still is a walking right of way. A path would need to be cleared before it could be used, though.

Those who spoke at Tuesday's meeting said their children went to private school and didn't want to use the path, and the adults were happy having no walking outlet, Abbott said.  Concerns about "stranger danger" along the path, teen drinking, and increased likelihood of drownings in Seneca Pond—about 200 feet away from the roads and walking easement—also were raised.

About 10 residents delivered a petition signed by 20 Linden Lane residents and nine Pine Street residents, Abbott said. That represented a change in opinion from last year, when the Safe Routes to School Committee went door to door and found 90 percent of people said they wanted the easement cleared, she said.