The Wicked Web of Deceit

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The Problem!

Garden City has posted signs on the Bike Path in Riverside Village to prohibit bicycle riding.  In May, 2007, Garden City passed an Ordinance making it a misdemeanor to ride a bicycle where they have posted such signs.  Since then, as prescribed by State Law,  they have reclassified the offense to be an Infraction.

 

 
Now, they are calling it "the Riverside Village Nature Trail."
 
Their justification?  Garden City officials have told the public, residents of Riverside Village, and the media that the Riverside Village Greenbelt has historically been a "Pedestrian Only" Path. The myth is that it was privately owned and it was originally built for the exclusive use of Riverside Village residents. 
 
Over 250 pages of public documents in our possession and interviews with many key public officials say that this is absolutely untrue!

The Truth!

The construction of the Bike Path in Riverside Village was required by the State of Idaho as a condition of approval for the Riverside Village development in1980.

Most startling of all the nonsense since then regarding access to this path, is the fact that in 1994 the State of Idaho sued the developer, Idaho Forest Industries (John Evans, Manager) and Evans Brothers Construction Company for failure to abide by the provisions of the "1980 Agreement." The lawsuit reminded the developer that these are public trust lands from which the public could not be restricted and required them to permanently remove the "No Trespassing" signs.   It also required them to complete the BIKE Path in Riverside Village!  

When this was settled in 1996, John Evans was the development manager and a member of the Garden City Planning and Zoning Commission.  Since that time, he has joined the Garden City Council and eventually, he became Garden City's current Mayor!

For details, please see our HISTORY and DOCUMENTS pages so that you can judge for yourself!