A Garibaldi Highlands resident is sending out a plea to protestors who have been targeting her home in the belief that she is responsible for placing No Trespassing and Private Property signs at the head of a popular trail.
"The last thing on Earth we want to see is a trail close. We're huge trail advocates, we support the trail society," said Lorraine Ross who has been besieged by protestors throwing nail-studded boards, rubber weather stripping and signs on her driveway.
On Sunday (March 28), Ross, who co-owns the Tantalus Bike Shop with her husband Alan, noticed the debris on her driveway and spotted a man and woman in their early 20s running away from her Garibaldi area home after
She gave chase and caught up with them, trying to explain that she is not responsible for erecting the sign on the Coho Trail. They wouldn't listen, she said.
"He was very rude to me and told me to shut up and get out of his face. He wouldn't even take responsibility for his actions and listen to what I had to say," said Ross.
Ross said she saw the very same signs that lay on her lawn posted on several trees on a portion of the Coho Trail situated on a neighbouring property just the day before.
Ross said she thinks people are incorrectly assuming her family is responsible for the recent appearance of the signs because the Ross family just erected a large retaining rock wall not far from where the signs were posted.
"I guess a lot of people have taken it upon themselves to think that with the rock wall being structured at the same time of these private property signs have gone up But really it has nothing to do with us but people are just jumping to conclusions."
As an avid cyclist and trail user, Ross wants local to know she would be the last person to oppose the public use of a trail.
The property on which the signs appear is actually part of a 15-acre lot owned by Hans Christian Wafler who resides in Prince George. The property is for sale for a price of $9.6 million. Attempts to reach Wafler through his realtor were unsuccessful.
District trails co-ordinator Todd Pope said about 21 metres of the Coho Trail is located on the private property, and he doesn't know why the signs were posted.
Ideally, said Pope, property owners would notify the district that they don't want the pubic using their land, but admits residents aren't required to do so.
"It's definitely a very sensitive situation," he said. "It's their property so they can so that. If they want to put signs up or they want to block it, fences, that is well within their rights."
Pope said the district is working on creating better signage policies to help trail users stay informed, but obeying signs is the responsibility of the trail user.
"It is very confusing when you start on a trail. It could go through municipal property, it could go through provincial Crown land, it could go through private land, it could go through First Nations. But when you're walking on the trail it's up to the trail user to respect any signs that are in place."
Ross said she simply wants people to express their frustrations appropriately rather than putting nails on her driveway where she or her teenage kids or husband could injure themselves.
"If you're not happy about cracks in the sidewalk you don't throw a rock at the house because they have the sidewalk in front," she said. "Do your homework, figure it out and approach it from a more mature manner."
As of yet, Ross has not reported the incident to the police but she's considering it.
"I know the face, if I ever saw the face again."
