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in re Cartway Petition July 9, 2012 Page Li of 9 Although Mr. Johnson's tract is over five acres in size, he cannot show that he does not have reasonable access to his property. Mr. ohnson's proposed use ofthe petitioned-for cartway is year-round walking and seasonal driving of an ATV four-wheeler and small tractor. Mr. Johnson has, as recently as the past few days, crossed the bridge with tractors and ATV's. Most of the tirne. the creek is only about five feet wide. Currently, it is wider as water is higher in the region. Nevertheless, even the wider creek has not prevented Mr. Johnson from crossing with makeshift bridges. Further, the Association members have estabtished that the creek did not render their similarly- situated properties inaccessible. They built a bridge. Just as the members of the Association have reasonable access to their respective properties, specifically, across the creek, so too could and does Mr. johnson. The cost for Mr. Johnson to construct a bridge over the creek that would be sized sufficiently to allow pedestrian, API and small tractor crossing would be much less expensive and disruptive of other's real property rights than converting the private road to pubhc. Expecting Mr. )ohnson to build his own crossing is a reasonable approach when considering that the alternative is to take the private property of the other and to convert it to public use. Where does this City Council draw the line and protect real property rights. The small creek is not a navigabte water, it is a small impediment to crossing. Like many other real property owners with crossing impediments on their property, such as wet or [ow areas, steep siopes or heavily-wooded patches, Mr. Johnson should be expected to solve his crossing impediment on his [and and without disrupting the quiet enjoyment of other property owners. For that reason, the threshold requirement of no other access is not met and the City is not bound to and should not grant the public cartway. Even if the City Council finds that Mr. Johnson's petition meets the statutory threshold criteria, the City must properly exercise its eminent domain authority and fully compensate the private property owners for the full extent of the conversion of the private roadway into a public road. IV. Scope of Taking The city has been given the statutory authority to select an alternative route other than that petitioned for if "the alternative is deemed by the city counciL to be less disruptive and damaging to the affected landowners and in the public's best interest." /cl.atsubd.l(b).