Billy pointed out that there are now no-trespassing signs posted by the city at the entrance to the Mattabesett trail, off Country Club Rd. I had to go check it out.
Indeed, there are now a couple of big old signs that read "NO TRESPASSING PRIVATE PROPERTY NO ATV RIDING ALLOWED PER CITY ORDINANCE 285-22". Apparently this is a reference to Middletown ordinance 285-22 [PDF], forbidding the use of motor scooters and the like on public property. I don't understand the application of that particular ordinance here, because so far as I can tell, the ordinance has to do with public property, whereas the sign says this is private property.
.Aside from that quibble, the sign is confusing and annoying for anyone coming in on foot. Does "no trespassing" apply only to motorized vehicles, or is the blue trail itself blocked here? There are new blue blazes in the immediate vicinity of the no trespassing signs; you can see them in this photo. The signs were not there last summer, and I'm pretty sure that at least some of the blue blazes are new, too.
This requires further investigation.
4 comments:
Update: No worries - the trail is still open to hikers!
Still open to hikers, and anyway, I like to exersize the old British law that says a man or woman is not trespassing if they are merely walking across a piece of land. I don't remember what they call this law--the rambler's law, perhaps?
This is STILL an issue, believe it or not!
Bummer. This really should be taken care of.
I had to kiss the Mattabesett goodbye since I moved out of state. However, despite the occasional kinks like this, I think that CT has one of the finest, most organized trail systems in the country. Speaking from my limited experience, of course!
Post a Comment