Today, after much thoughts, I decided to remove the paths that have been guiding traffic in my town for the last 4 months. I knew it was all dirt under and that's exactly how I was able to keep the grass everywhere else in my village. It is much less cumbersome now. First off, fossils now can appear on your dirt paths. Secundo, fruits and other items can be dropped on them and finally I don't erase the paths by mistake when I'm trying to pick something up. No more paths and free patterns slots.