Walnut Creek Open Space was a hard fought victory in land preservation.
This is the story of Lime Ridge Open Space.
It has always been a grassroots effort.
During the late 1960’s, the Citizens of Walnut Creek began to express their concern over the potential development of the hills and ridge lines within the City.
When a development in a portion of Shell Ridge was proposed in the early 1970’s a grassroots effort began. Citizens overturned the development in a referendum and created a formally designated committee that formed a plan to purchase and protect open space.
The city council in the 1970's joined in the efforts to pass the bond measure that funded the purchase of our Open Space. The result was the formation of Contra Costa Service Area R-8, approved by voters in June of 1974, providing $6,750,000 to acquire open space land in and around Walnut Creek. Subsequent councils have continually supported the protection of our Open Space.
The original plan identified approximately 2500 acres of parks, open space, and trail easements to be protected. Later purchases and dedications have brought that number up to 2,726 acres. The City of Walnut Creek, in agreement with the City of Concord, manages the Open Space for both cities as well as land owned by the Muir Heritage Land Trust.
Mountain bikers have been pushing for single-track trails in the Open Space since 1996. The City has repeatedly decided against giving bikers more access and instead to keep the existing rules in place. Currently, bikers are lobbying to not only make all trails in Lime Ridge multi-use, they want to have roller coaster Flow trails built in Lime Ridge for their exclusive use.
830 Acre Lime Ridge Regional Recreation Area
The Lime Ridge Recreational Area Master Plan was implemented in 1985 and precluded activities like Flow Trails due to their high impact. The plan, approved by both Walnut Creek and Concord, was very clear in its charter to protect the Open Space, to preserve it as it, and to rehabilitate it as needed. These are guidelines for Lime Ridge that have been in place for decades.