Show Your Support for Recreation at Waterdog

The Belmont Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Master Plan process is making its way through the Parks & Recreation Commission and ultimately to City Council. The Master Plan is a planning blueprint for the next 15-20 years to guide the City's network of parks, facilities and recreational services for the future, including Waterdog open space.

There is a small but aggressive group of anti-recreation activists in Belmont whose goal it is to ban mountain biking from the Waterdog open space area. They are waging a campaign to have Waterdog designated as a "nature preserve" in the Master Plan and severely limit recreational access to the trails. They have even hired a biologist to perform a biased study advocating for a complete ban of bikes. If they succeed, mountain bike and other recreational access to Waterdog could be lost for the next 20 years. They are very organized and have a dedicated website that vilifies mountain bikers.

This week is a very crucial juncture in the process. On Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. there is the fourth and final meeting of the PROS Advisory Committee, where recommendations will be made about open space. You can view and/or make public comment at this meeting on Zoom by registering here.

This coming Wednesday 4/6/22 at 7:00 p.m. the Belmont Parks & Recreation Commission has its regular meeting. Item 6.E. on the agenda is to receive an update on the PROS plan, which includes the open space element. (The agenda includes the link to view and/or make public comment via Zoom if you're so inclined.) The staff report can be seen here.

Please take a few minutes to send an email to both info@belmontprosplan.com and PRComm@belmont.gov to let them know you support continued multi-use access to Waterdog. Waterdog has been successfully managed as a mutli-use trail system for decades, and the trails have been sustainable based in large part due to volunteer trailwork by cyclists, through the Waterdog Trailkeepers. Note: The advisory committee and commission welcome input (via email and/or public comment at meetings) from all people who use the open space, whether or not they are residents of the City of Belmont.