OJAI : Trail Users Argue Over Allowing Dogs

Dog owners squared off against cyclists at a county commission meeting Wednesday over a proposal to allow dogs on the nine-mile Ojai Valley Trail.

“It would be an outrage if dogs are not permitted,” said John Brooks, an Oak View resident. “We’d like to be able to use the trail our taxes and fees have paid for.”

“As a bike rider, it is very frightening not to know what a dog is going to do,” said Joe Gerardine of Ojai, who rides his bicycle along the trail five days a week.

The Ventura County Parks and Harbor Commission listened to a dozen witnesses argue over the proposal to allow leashed dogs on the bike and bridle trail that runs along California 33 from Casitas Springs to Ojai.

“We’re dealing with a very, very emotional issue,” said Commissioner Joyce Trahan of the testimony from dog owners.

The commission was scheduled to decide Wednesday if the county should waive its ban on dogs on the trail.

But the commission lacked a quorum and postponed a decision until July 18.

Parks Manager Andy Oshita said the decision could set a precedent for other county parks, where dogs are banned unless the park is set up for overnight camping.

From Wednesday’s testimony, the commission also seemed likely to consider setting a speed limit for bicyclists who barrel down the path.

The Parks Department has proposed allowing canines on the trail if they are on a leash up to six feet long and if the handler carries a pooper scooper to remove any excrement.

“The idea is to get it off the trail,” said Blake Boyle, deputy director of recreation services. He indicated that the county would not necessarily expect people to carry the excrement home with them.

Posted signs now forbid dogs on either the paved bike lane or the wood-chip bridle paths that are separated by a rail fence on the former railroad right of way.

“We knew from day one it was going to be a problem,” Oshita said of the $1.6-million trail financed largely by Caltrans.

Several commissioners joined residents in questioning how a new leash law and pooper-scooper law would be enforced.

Under the proposal, park rangers and animal control officers would issue verbal warnings to offending dog owners and issue citations as a last resort, Oshita said.

“I wouldn’t know how to jog, take a dog and a pooper scooper,” said Commissioner Don Cluff of Ojai, who objected to the scoop requirement.

Oshita said the Parks Department has received 20 complaints in the past year about barking dogs posing a hazard to bicyclists and about dog droppings on the trail.

In the past week, he said, he has heard from 26 people and 24 were in support of allowing dogs on the trail.

At the hearing, some Oak View residents complained that speeding bicyclists and broken glass endanger their children.

“Broken bottles are far more serious a threat than stepping in a little bit of poop,” said Oak View resident Mary Morris, a dog owner.