OJAI VALLEY : County Postpones Action to Allow Dogs on 9-Mile Trail

The Ventura County Parks and Harbor Commission has postponed until Sept. 15 the issue of whether dogs should be allowed on the Ojai Valley Trail.

The panel was to consider a county Parks Department recommendation that dogs be allowed if they are on a leash and their owners carry “pooper scoopers” to keep the popular, nine-mile bike and bridle pathway clean.

In the interim, however, the County Board of Supervisors has adopted a new law that requires pet owners after Aug. 9 to carry a bag or device to remove their pet’s droppings if they walk their animals on any county property or public school ground.

Kathy Jenks, director of the county’s Animal Regulation Department, said that she proposed the law primarily to control droppings at schools and beaches, but that it applies to county parks such as the Ojai Valley Trail.

“Now the only issue left is whether dogs will be allowed in this park,” Parks Manager Andy Oshita said.

The trail that snakes through Ojai Valley along California 33 is the county’s longest, narrowest park.

It was funded largely by state money earmarked for highway bicycle lanes. County officials were able to use the funds to develop the trail, which runs along a former railroad line into Ojai.

When the trail was completed last year, signs were posted to prohibit dogs and motorized vehicles.

Area residents told the commission in June that they intended to keep walking their dogs along the trail as they had done for years before it was paved.

Although some bicyclists have demanded that no dogs be allowed, the Parks Department has received dozens of phone calls and letters indicating 90% of the trail-users favor allowing dogs as long as they are on a leash, Oshita said.