The Trail Association is dedicated to creating trails in Martin County Florida that are available for hiking, bicycling, and horse back riding. We work with our County Parks Dept., County Engineering Dept., South Florida Water Mgt. District, and other trail associations to cooperate in the development of trails in new developments, on public land, and in our own subdivision of Palm City Farms.Our membership dues go exclusively to improvement work authorized by the Board to acquire or enhance public use trails. Questions or Comments:CLICK HEREAllapattah is an example of Public Land Cooperation, the purchased ranch is used for Water Management, Wildlife Management, and public recreation and covers more than 21,000 acres.
Canopy Creek Photos This is a public trail around the perimeter of a PUD negotiated at the time of the re-plat.
C-23 Canal Robert B Jenkins Greenway a SFWMD drainage canal designated as a Martin County Greenway
Allapattah Flats: Managed by Florida Wildlife Commission has potential for many trails these are the currently designated ones.
Allapattah Flats Fox Brown Road
Hawk's Hammock Park Nature Hiking and Horseback Riding
Dedication Ceremony May 20 2009 another 5 miles of trails added.
Many of the trails available by using the platted unopened right of ways dedicated on the plat of the Farms are shown here for easy reference.
CROSSING THE TURNPIKE
Trail Ride @ Allapattah Flats
Trail Ride the Farms April
POWER POINT TYPE PRESENTATION OF HISTORY OF THE ASSOCIATION AND DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT WORK CLICK FIRST ICON TO START
Vision, Misson etc. below this block.
SPONSOR LEVEL MEMBERSHIP WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH SPACE ON THIS WEB SITE TO DISPLAY ANY MATERIAL YOU WISH WITHIN THE GUIDELINES OF APPROPRIATENESS.
FOR THE SUM OF $100 YOU RECEIVE A FAMILY MEMBERSHIP, RECOGNITION ON THIS WEB SITE, AND ACCESS TO THE WEB SITE FOR ADVERTISING OF YOUR BUSINESS AND/OR A LINK TO YOUR WEB SITE IF YOU PREFER CONTACT US VIA THE "CONTACT US PAGE" WHERE A MESSAGE BLOCK IS AVAILABLE.
TO THOSE CONCERNED CITIZENS OF PALM CITY FARMS:
The Palm City Farms Trail Association Inc. intends to work diligently to return taken right of ways of the original plat to the appropriate public and private use as provided from the acceptance of the plat by user. When all the lots were sold the saved and reserved clauses in the dedication of the plat were transferred from the Palm Beach County Land Company to the owners. This act vested all the rights held back by the Company to the owners of the parcels. The right to have public highways was offered but never formally accepted by the county for the public thus the acceptance of the plat was by use of any portion of any of the roadways. This acceptance by user made the right of ways public domain. The plat of the Farms showed the roadways as unnamed and unlabeled spaces with the parcels bounded by the roadway lines. This is accepted by the courts as indicating a reservation by the Palm Beach County Land Company Inc. and the reservation was also stated on the plat and in the original deeds. When the Company sold all its interests in the land platted the ownership of the roadways extended to the centerline with each abutting owner having an underlying title right to the land if the public and private rights were ever removed. Some of the roadways have had these rights removed by Roadway Abandonment or Re-Plats like the PUD of Canopy Creek and Country Place. The viability of each segment of the roadway system must be determined before it can be returned to appropriate service.The county plays no role in the return of the roadways to private use or public use except to exercise their authority to claim them as public domain. Since it is not possible to remove the public rights by any methods other than those prescribed by law a legal record will indicate removal of the public rights. The county will enforce the removal of obstructions from declared “OPEN” roads. Platted unopened road right of ways can only be “opened” by acquiring an “Open Road Permit” from the county. This process causes confusion. There is no permit required for the legal use of a platted unopened road right of way. Construction on or mechanized clearing of a platted unopened roadway requires a “Right of Way Use Permit” from the county. Normal use and normal maintenance of the clear path sufficient for the use of the platted unopened roadway does not require county approval or permitting.After a roadway satisfies all the county’s requirements it may be accepted into the county inventory of county maintained roadways. The substandard roadways in Palm City Farms are not maintained by the county unless they have been maintained for more than four years, have county construction on them, or have been formally accepted. Maintenance of the roadways not accepted by the county is the charge of the owners of the land who want and need access and service to their property. The rules of easement maintenance apply and are defined by case law. The basics are as follows: There are defined two types of easement tenements: Servient and Dominant. All owners of parcels are both depending on which parcel is being examined. The servient tenement is the owner of the parcel that has the easement directly abutting their parcel. The dominant tenements are all other parcel owners. The rules of maintenance are that the servient tenement is not required to maintain the section abutting their parcel unless they choose to. The dominant tenements are allowed to maintain any roadway important to them within the constraints of the county’s legal rules. A servient tenement is to not interfere with the maintenance being done by the dominant tenement and those in charge of maintenance may remove obstructions from the roadway.Liability is a huge concern because of the litigious nature of our society. Anyone may sue anyone for anything whether they stand a prayer of a chance of winning damages or not. The law does act as a damper on the frivolous lawsuits and an arbiter of fairness for the serious lawsuits. The county has the duty to defend against any suit on the public domain. Things that favor and protect the landowners are: 1. DO NOT interfere with the use of the easement: to interfere brings liability.
2. Do maintain posted signs warning of trespass on private lands.
3. Do recognize that State Laws have special statutes protecting against Equestrian Accidents: post the signs.
4. Provide no invitations to use the right of way or inducements to use it.
5. Sign no contracts for use of the right of way easement.
6. Consult your attorney.
7. Consult your Insurance carrier for their direction.
Taxes and Ownership is a hotly contested issue for some owners. The belief is that if they pay taxes on it they own it and therefore are liable for everything on it. No taxes are paid on the public domain unless the county has a mistake in their system. If in doubt contact the property appraiser’s office and follow their directions to assure yourself that you do not pay taxes on the right of ways.OUR PROMISE:
The Palm City Farms Trail Association will maintain the right of ways that we want to use as trails and we will comply with county rules and regulations in doing this work. The Trail Association will monitor and regulate the use of its members on the trail system and assist landowners in prosecuting trespassers. In return you should return the right of way you have taken without legal right. If you insist on keeping the right of way you must get an attorney to help you become legal in your endeavors to acquire the public and private rights you do not own.Palm City Farms Trail Association Inc. May 13, 2012
INCORPORATED 2003
Palm City Farms Trail Association PCFTA Inc.
VISION STATEMENT
Palm City Farms has trails available for member and public usage along all desirable plat right-of-ways.
Mission Statement
Acknowledge, use, and maintain safe trails throughout our community.
Immediate Tasks
Acknowledge various right-of-ways, which are both accessible and non-accessible to the association.
Compile information to form various trails (access) throughout the entire Palm City Farms area as to provide all Palm City Chapter Members with complete access to each other as well as other county Chapters.
Develop and mark these trails as the PCFTA trails and maintain them accordingly.
Work with our County Government on utilizing our rights to county land regarding trails and parks for the entire community.
Recruit members with the purpose of extending our vision to all supporters of trail rights throughout the community.
Obtain grants or designated county funds to provide for the further development of trails and public use areas.
Design a web site to provide information regarding our organization, our direction as well as community up-dates on various current issues. (County meetings, West Nile etc.)
Future Tasks
Establish a lengthy; safe and environmentally friendly trail system throughout the entire Palm City Farms area.
Cooperate in defining utilization of large parcels of county and state lands for designated trail usage.
Establish our association as a valuable asset to its members, the community and local officials.
Join with other Associations to continue our mission.
Hold events throughout the year for various occasions.
Continue to provide and establish safe trail areas for all trail users.
OBJECTIVE STATEMENT:
The trail association intends to select right-of-ways and trails that will be useful and provide them to the members and the public as appropriate for their use as a recreational pursuit.
Strategy Statement:
Palm City Farms Trail Association Incorporated
The trail association will use all resources available to gain the return of access to all land taken by whatever means that was once identified as public right-of-way on the plat of the subdivision that can be useful and safe as a trail system
