We Might Lose The Kaiser Woods Trail

As questions come up about the Kaiser Woods trail and the 2151 Lakemoor lot, we want to walk through what has happened using documents, recorded actions, and verifiable steps.

What is Happening Now

Since January, we have been watching the board enter executive session to discuss issues pertaining to private lots. One of the persistent topics has been a 'declaration of covenant' for lot 2151 - which you may remember better as the Kaiser Woods Trail.

What the Documents and Meeting Records Show

• In 2024, the community discussed options for the 2151 lot, including purchasing an easement for trail access.

  • This happened across board meetings from June through October.

• A community vote was held, and a majority supported securing access to Kaiser Woods Park

  • In September, the board had voted to be bound by the member decision

• The board approved moving forward with an easement for the purpose of neighborhood access to the park - the easement was valued at $12,000.

• Meeting records and community comments confirm:

  • The trail already existed and was in use

  • The easement was intended to formalize and secure that access

“The LCC board was offered a second opportunity to purchase a small easement for $12,000 seems wonderful, once in a lifetime. Look beyond personal views of that area and beyond today, look to the future, a number of young families with children and seeing them access the city park directly would be an added amenity. Drainage to the lake is a very high priority, include the easement as a priority.”

-Community comment, June 2024

What Happened After the Vote

Simpler motion proposed, seconded – 

• Subject to approval of a final legal agreement by our attorney, LCC will allocate the sum of $12,000 to purchase an easement on the undeveloped residential lot located at 2151 Lakemoor Dr. by October 31, 2024, for the purpose of securing exclusive, private, access to and from Kaiser Woods Park for Ken Lake residents. 

Voted – carried

Minutes, October 2024

After the vote but before the HOA completed a purchase:

• The property owner sold the lot to another household

• As part of that transaction, a recorded declaration of covenant was created

That covenant:

• Provided easement access to the neighborhood

• Achieved the same access outcome the community had voted for, without HOA expenditure

Residents continued using the trail during this period, never knowing that the easement we voted on had been quietly gifted to the neighborhood.

What the Current Board Action Is

• The covenant declaration has been discussed in executive session

• The board has voted to pursue removal of the covenant

Motion to contact the attorney regarding nullifying the easement covenant filed with Thurston County by a former home owner

• Seconded – passed

  
  

Draft Minutes, March 2025

Earlier community input shows that process transparency was part of the discussion from the beginning:

• Residents asked for a community-wide vote

• Residents asked how information would be shared with the neighborhood before decisions were finalized

Later comments continued to reflect similar expectations:

• Requests for “a vote from the homeowners and transparency”

• Requests that “all information [be] shared with homeowners”

No broad community-facing explanation of:

• the covenant itself

• or the proposed change has been distributed to residents at this time

“What I really like about the easement opportunity is that it is way less money, and no board has been willing to do that. Seems like a total win-win for all of us. Moving forward it is an asset to many user groups. Looking to the forward to the future of the community. You never regret purchasing land, only regret not purchasing land in my Land Use background. Let me know what I can do to help facilitate.”

-Community Comment, June 2024

While the board may have valid concerns, this is a common asset that belongs to all neighbors, and those discussions need to happen in public.

Additionally, board members who have pursued legal action to stop the easement acquisition should recuse themselves from this topic.

Clarification: A pursuit was announced at the October 2024 meeting, and then never filed (correction 4/22/2026)

What the Actual Policy or Rule Says

• Trail use is permitted under existing governing documents

• Easements are legal mechanisms used to formalize access rights across private property

• Covenant declarations are recorded property restrictions that run with the land and define allowed uses and limitations

Broad Member Support

Access to the Kaiser Woods Trail had broad member support, noting that the opportunity to secure the easement was a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to make access safer for neighborhood bikers and walkers. The trail access is essential for young families and at the time was recognized as a long time community benefit; if we can hold it.

What the Reasonable Interpretation Is

A neutral reading of the sequence shows:

• The community supported securing trail access

• That access was later secured through a private covenant instead of an HOA purchase, giving access that would be valued at, at a minimum $12,000.

• The current action would remove or alter the mechanism that ensures that access

This represents a change to a previously established outcome and affects:

• access expectations

• land use assumptions

• prior community-supported direction

What Residents Should Know Going Forward

The easement currently exists through a recorded covenant tied to the property

The board has taken steps to remove that covenant

• It is not yet clear from public materials:

  • how access would change if removal is completed

  • whether a new easement structure would replace it

  • whether a community vote will be part of that decision

Residents may want to look for:

• the recorded covenant document

• meeting minutes referencing the current action

• any upcoming agenda items related to the property or trail access