By Delcenia Cosman

Reporter, Homer Independent Press

The Homer City Council approved an ordinance and accompanying resolution on Monday to dive into conceptual planning for a low-impact, looped hiking trail above Karen Hornaday Park.

Ordinance 26-30 appropriates $50,000 from the Homer Accelerated Roads and Trails Fund to fund planning of the Woodard Canyon Trail. Resolution 26-041 directs the city manager to issue a request for proposals for route identification and conceptual planning.

No comments were made during the formal public hearing on the ordinance, but community members submitted several written comments to the council in support of it. Community members also spoke in favor of the resolution at the beginning of the meeting.

Local physician Giulia Tortora said that development of a loop trail would be a bonus to the community.

“We need to do everything we can in this community to support walking and hiking…. I do strongly recommend that we put together a plan, and support a plan, to help make that trail clearer and more solid,” she said. “I think it makes a big difference in the community to have a trail like that that is close. It’s accessible, it’s beautiful, it just needs to be well-marked and worked on a bit.”

Local author Tom Kizzia said that the trail would be a great asset for the community and tourists who want to hike without going across Kachemak Bay.

Homer resident Pamela Brody, who also submitted written testimony in support of the resolution, said that she regularly walks local trails, including the Poopdeck Trail , Pratt Museum Forest Trail and “one of the trails up Woodard Canyon, up as far as I could go on public land, which is to the meadows.”

“I would love to have a loop trail to come down,” she said. “It’s great the way it is, it would be even greater with a loop trail.”

Brody encouraged the council to look for additional opportunities to establish more local trails.

Both the ordinance and resolution passed unanimously.

Council member Jason Davis reiterated that the ordinance set an upper cap on the trail route assessment and that he thought the actual cost could be lower. 

Council members Shelly Erickson and Caroline Venuti spoke to the possibility of including expanded access for people of all ages and abilities in the eventual trail project.

“I’m kind of excited about the project because I see that we can actually make it into a multi-level, multiple types of difficulty,” Erickson said. “As we plan and we look at a bigger picture, I think it’s going to be pretty exciting to watch this happen.”

Venuti said she would be watching the project to make sure it includes accessibility accommodations.

During her report to the council for the Parks, Art, Recreation and Culture Advisory Commission, Commissioner Ingrid Harrald said that the proposed Woodard Canyon Trail would create additional recreation access in Homer. 

“The idea of having a new trail in our city is really, really exciting and not common at all … it really is one of those things that keeps our community centered,” she said. “People come here to go hiking — it’s very inaccessible across the bay, and the more we can do to make recreation accessible to families (is) really, really important.”

Find Ordinance 26-30 and Resolution 26-041 on the City of Homer website.

Correction: This article has been updated to include public comments supporting the proposed Woodard Canyon loop trail that were made at the beginning of the June 22 Homer City Council meeting.