Banned from Heritage Park for walking on Powerhouse Road
Powerhouse Road with people and dogs
Recent Media
Signs to clarify road use near park
The Olympian - April 10, 2006
Improvements in works for popular Heritage Park road
Press release, General Administration - April 7, 2006
Make rules clear on Powerhouse Road
Letter, The Olympian - April 4, 2006
G.A., patrol must get acts together
Letter, The Olympian - April 1, 2006
Sign prohibits vehicles, not pedestrians
Letter, The Olympian - March 30, 2006
State must resolve lake issue
Editorial, The Olympian - March 19, 2006
Detour near lake costly
The Olympian - March 13, 2006
Overview
On February 11, 2006 I was issued a $101 ticket and banned from Heritage Park for 30 days for walking on Powerhouse Road on the east side of Capitol Lake in Olympia, Washington. My wife and I were on an early evening walk, heading to the switchbacks that run up to the Capitol building; this is a public trail, and to access it one must use Powerhouse Road.
General Administration, which has authority over the road and the issuance of trespass warnings, recognized this but refused to overturn my trespass warning. G.A. also noted that Powerhouse Road is not part of Heritage Park, meaning I was banned from a park that I didn't even enter. (Regarding this point, all now agree that Powerhouse Road is part of Heritage Park.)
In researching my case I've learned that there is basically no due process of law when one is banned from a state park because of poor quality service provided by public employees. The appeals process is meaningless or non-existant, depending on whether or not you believe law should be codified. Even the legal authority for the General Administration department to ban citizens from state parks doesn't seem to exist in written form.
Check the links on the left for more info on my case and these quasi-legal trespass warnings. Very few people are aware of this web site; if you'd like to help change that, you can use the nifty cut-and-paste code to add a link graphic to your site.
On March 9, 2006, I filed a tort claim with the State of Washington for $6,000 ($200 for each day I was illegally banned from my park). It's not much, but my goal isn't to get rich, I simply want some recognition that what General Administration did was not fair nor legal. Their never-worked-before appeals process is a mockery of due process. I went through the proper channels and they ignored me, which is not appropriate behavior for a public agency.
On May 23, 2006, my ticket was deferred for six months. If I don't violate the same law and WAC sub-citation in the six months following, the ticket is dropped. The judge felt that I violated the law as written, despite the fact that the public must use that road, but that it would be best if this eventually just went away. I don't feel much redress.
Update
November 8, 2006 -- Many months back the state denied my tort claim. My only option now is to file suit, which I plan on doing. I've updated the GA public records section; GA basically has nothing that authorizes them to issue trespass warnings.
