Hiker, joggers can now circle Beaver Lake via foot path

Posted on — Jeff Fobes

Hiker and author Danny Bernstein blogs, “until very recently, you couldn’t make the full circle around [Beaver Lake in North Asheville]. There was a tall fence on either side of a section in front of a house. It seems that a few home owners objected to walkers passing in front of their houses. The Lake View Park Commission argued for free access and a judge agreed. So the fences were removed.”

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About Jeff Fobes
As a long-time proponent of media for social change, my early activities included coordinating the creation of a small community FM radio station to serve a poor section of St. Louis, Mo. In the 1980s I served as the editor of the "futurist" newsletter of the U.S. Association for the Club of Rome, a professional/academic group with a global focus and a mandate to act locally. During that time, I was impressed by a journalism experiment in Mississippi, in which a newspaper reporter spent a year in a small town covering how global activities impacted local events (e.g., literacy programs in Asia drove up the price of pulpwood; soybean demand in China impacted local soybean prices). Taking a cue from the Mississippi journalism experiment, I offered to help the local Green Party in western North Carolina start its own newspaper, which published under the name Green Line. Eventually the local party turned Green Line over to me, giving Asheville-area readers an independent, locally focused news source that was driven by global concerns. Over the years the monthly grew, until it morphed into the weekly Mountain Xpress in 1994. I've been its publisher since the beginning. Mountain Xpress' mission is to promote grassroots democracy (of any political persuasion) by serving the area's most active, thoughtful readers. Consider Xpress as an experiment to see if such a media operation can promote a healthy, democratic and wise community. In addition to print, today's rapidly evolving Web technosphere offers a grand opportunity to see how an interactive global information network impacts a local community when the network includes a locally focused media outlet whose aim is promote thoughtful citizen activism. Follow me @fobes
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2 thoughts on “Hiker, joggers can now circle Beaver Lake via foot path”

  1. timothypeck

    Lake View Park, a residential neighborhood in Asheville, NC, is known for its beauty and rich history. It is a community of 485 homes surrounding Beaver Lake and Park, both of which are owned by the residents.
    http://www.thelakeviewpark.org/

    Beaver Lake and the surrounding property are privately owned by the residents of the Lake View Park neighborhood. Lake View Park residents pay fees for the upkeep of the lake and park, and we employ a warden to enforce our rules for safety and to facilitate the enjoyment of the lake and the park by our residents. Non-residents are invited to use the facilities as long as all the rules and restrictions are honored.
    http://www.thelakeviewpark.org/faqs.html

  2. henry

    This Beaver Lake Trail section is referred to as the South Side Trail and has been open for several months now. The dispute with 3 property owners goes back years, with the property owners claiming they were given the right to put up permanent fences, whereas the Lake View Park Commision denied that it granted any permanent access restriction. Most generously, the Lake View Park Commision will be making improvements to this trail, where there are two sections that need boardwalks. The trail is on the right of way owned by the Lake View Park private property. A large majority of Lake View Park home owners identified opening the South Side Trail as their number one priority. Since it is a private part of Beaver Lake that will be used by the public and more secluded that the North Side Trail along Merrimon, as a visitor I intend to respect private property rights and the gift that the public is receiving. Much thanks to the Lake View Park Commission and all the Lake View Park home owners who made this possible.

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