Bill Craig, one of the men who proposed a new trail in the lakeside ridge area above Fountain Park, announced Monday that he will no longer pursue the effort.

Nearly 200 residents gathered at the Community Center March 5 and basically told town officials to take a hike with Craig’s idea to build a new trail.

It was the largest gathering of citizens at a public meeting in several years with people expressing their near unanimous opposition to a proposal to build another hiking trail adjacent to the lakeside residential area across from Fountain Park.

Craig serves on the board of the Sonoran Conservancy and is a member of the group’s Trail Blazers trail construction group. He is also a member of the MMPC.

Bill Myers, former chairman of the MMPC, was reportedly the second person presenting the idea. He has since resigned from the commission. His departure was not related to commission business.

“There will not be a further presentation and request to the Parks and Recreation Commission or the Town Council,” Craig said in an email to The Times Monday.

“I am disappointed and still think that another trail in the downtown area is a very good idea for our active living community, but at this time, I cannot see getting approval for this project from the Town Council.

“There is a very large degree of negativity and ‘not in my backyard’ attitude present that I did not anticipate.”

Staff had sent out about 500 letters to residents living in the neighborhoods adjacent to the proposed trail informing them of the meeting.

Community Services Director Mark Mayer said he received between 45 and 50 emails in response to the mailing. The Times made a public records request for a sampling of those emails and none of those provided expressed any support for the plan.

The key concerns for the citizens included privacy, security and property value. They also noted the redundancy with the existing Overlook Trail, which is at one point running parallel and just a few yards from the proposed route for the new trail.

In his presentation at the meeting Craig made an effort to allay some of the residents’ concerns.

According to Craig, Trail Blazers who are assigned to maintain the current Overlook Trail have received a lot of positive comments from hikers and residents at nearby homes.

He said those comments are often suggestions that the trail be made longer. Craig said he and Myers believed the suggestions were a good fit with the town’s interconnected urban trail plan and consistent with the “active lifestyle” Fountain Hills promotes.

Craig said the distance between the proposed trail and nearby homes is never less than 70 feet and is generally between 80 to 100 feet. He also noted that there is an average of 25- to 30-foot difference in elevation between the trail and private property.

“The trail would be farther away than you think,” Craig said. “The existing Lake Overlook Trail is much closer to many homes than this will be.

“I believe that many of you will make good use of this trail.”

Craig also said that while the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has no statistics specific to the trail, law enforcement officials had no recollection of significant incidents involving the trail’s use.

The neighbors, however, were able to relate their own specific concerns and times MCSO had been called.

Some residents reported motorcycles on the trail when in fact it is supposed to be hikers only -- not even mountain bikes are permitted.

It was also stated that there are people on the trail at night with flashlights that shine in the windows of residents.

Roger Nelson said he has lived in the Diamante Del Lago neighborhood for 10 years and is also a hiker and rides a mountain bike. He said he is a steward for the Scottsdale McDowell Sonoran Conservancy and a member of the Fountain Hills Sonoran Conservancy.

Nelson presented 10 reasons he opposes the trail plan.

“I would like each of (those) making the decision to visualize your back yard with a public trail within feet of your patio,” Nelson said. “Can you honestly say that you would welcome the noise and presence of hundreds of hikers every week?”

Nelson noted that with the new trail, 95 homes, most of which are within private gated communities, would be directly affected.

“The Lake Overlook Trail had been completed when we purchased our homes but we did not expect that another trail would be built in our backyards,” Nelson said. “It is hard to image how this new trail would improve the value of our homes.”

The Lake Overlook Trail was built by the developer of the neighborhoods along the hillside. It has been improved over the years and maintenance has been taken over by the conservancy’s Trail Builders.