I was deeply troubled by a May 4 letter in the Gazette that left the implicit message that “runners, hikers and disc-golfers” have a superior “right of access” to the Smith Farm fields.
This ignores the fact that, as a matter of law, anyone other than Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School staff and students using the fields is a trespasser. Moreover, the signage erected along the paths by runners and disc-golfers and the “holes” installed by the disc-golfers violate the proscription against erecting non-agricultural fixtures on the grounds of the fields.
Like many in the community, I hope that the governing legislation can be amended to allow for incidental, recreational use of the Smith Farm Fields.
That said, the participants in the weekly cross country races have no greater right than I, or my dog, to use the fields. We at least don’t assert a dubious right to close off the parking lot and bar other members of the public from using it on a weekly basis.
The races pose a significant risk of legal liability for the school. They are run over paths within the control of Smith Vocational and are haphazardly maintained. If an 87-year-old runner should step into one of the innumerable gopher or sink holes along these paths, fall and break a hip, the school could be found liable for failing to adequately maintain the paths. I have enjoyed walking my dogs at the Smith Farm Fields for two decades and most dog owners I have encountered are mindful of their charges. I have never witnessed a runner or hiker being attacked by a dog. I don’t discount that incidents may have occurred, but to ban all unleashed dogs because of a few incidents is draconian. Furthermore, thanks to the efforts of the group Friends of Smith Fields, there has been a dramatic cleanup of dog waste.
Clearly it would be in the interest of all concerned to develop a manageable policy, approved by the Commonwealth, that would allow access to the entire public. We cannot reach a reasonable accommodation, however, when some assert claims for preferential treatment.
M. FRANCISCO PALOMO
Northampton