A proposed property transfer between the city of Craig and a private landowner near Sherwood Park could resolve a decades-old surveying issue while also preserving community access to the city-maintained bike park.

The property in question, located at 455 E. Seventh St. and legally described as Craig View, Block 31, Lots 37 through 42, is owned by Bertha and Diego Garcia. The parcel sits immediately adjacent to Sherwood Park, also known as Sherwood Forest, a community-maintained bike park where residents have built and maintained ramps, jumps and trails.

The issue arose after a recent survey showed that a portion of the home, driveway and shed on the property, which was originally constructed in 1979, were built over a strip of city-owned right-of-way. That strip was marked as a 30-foot alley on subdivision maps dating back to the mid-1920s but was never developed or used for public utilities.

Marlin Eckhoff, building official for the city of Craig, said the situation only came to light during preparations for a potential sale of the property.

“The current owners are the ones requesting the vacation of the 30-foot alleyway,” Eckhoff said. “Once they got a survey, the new potential buyers found out that about five feet of that house, give or take, on the west end is actually sitting on that 30-foot alleyway, along with the driveway and the shed.”

Eckhoff said it is not uncommon for older plats to present problems like this, though it doesn’t happen often.

“It’s anybody’s guess how that happened,” he said. “The house was built in 1979 and looking back, as far as I know, that driveway and everything’s been in that location since. The house has sold a few times since then, but it never became an issue until it got surveyed correctly.”

Subdivision plats from the 1920s laid out alleyways and rights-of-way in this area of Craig, but many were never improved. Because rights-of-way often serve as corridors for water, sewer or other utilities, city officials required a full review before moving forward.

The Garcia family worked with the city and with utility providers over the past several months to secure approvals. Yampa Valley Electric, Atmos Energy, Luminate and city departments including water, wastewater, public works and road and bridge all signed off, confirming there are no existing utilities in the strip and no plans to place any there in the immediate future.

Concerns about the property vacation have centered on Sherwood Park and whether access would change. Eckhoff said the proposed action does not interfere with the established access route from Seventh Street and will not affect the bike park.

“It would not remove access. Everybody would still have the same public access to Sherwood Forest off Seventh Street,” Eckhoff said. “It does not encroach on the existing access into Sherwood Forest, and it would not inhibit any of the current areas where they ride bikes.”

He noted that even if a fence were built on the new property line, it would stop well short of any bike ramps or jumps.

Although no money will change hands, the city would gain a legal benefit in return. As part of the arrangement, the Garcias will grant the city a 15-foot easement along the front of the lot, ensuring access to sewer lines that run near the property.

“It’s a little bit of a trade deal,” Eckhoff said. “We’ll get some property that is more beneficial to us in trade for this property. That easement will give us legal access in case we ever have to widen that bridge on Seventh Street, add a sidewalk or replace the sewer line.”

Eckhoff added that most residents probably never realized the city owned the strip of land, since it has long been used as the home’s driveway.

The vacation request went before the Craig Planning and Zoning Commission on Aug. 18 and was approved in a 5-0 vote. It will now go to the Craig City Council for consideration at its Sept. 9 meeting.

“There should be little to no impact on anybody using Sherwood Forest,” Eckhoff said. “This is just the only way to remedy it.”