County to Delay Grading of Site for Proposed Jail : Public works: Farmers, ranchers and officials from Santa Paula and Ventura oppose the project, which will now be delayed until late fall.

Bowing to widespread criticism, Ventura County officials have decided to postpone grading of a proposed jail site near Santa Paula until a final environmental study on the project is completed.

Public Works Director Arthur Goulet said Wednesday that he has decided not to begin grading in September at the Todd Road site near Santa Paula, as was previously planned. Instead, he said, grading will begin in late fall, after a final environmental impact report on the 15-acre facility is completed.

County officials wanted to begin grading early to improve the county’s chances to qualify for $31 million in state funding for the $52-million project. The state government had offered the money on the condition that construction would begin by Sept. 30.

Even with the early grading, Goulet said the county probably would not have met the Sept. 30 deadline to begin actual construction. But he said he had hoped that the effort would have shown state officials that the county is making progress on the project and should be granted an extension.

“If we could have shown that we had entered into a contract for preliminary work, it would make the odds better,” he said.

Any slowdown in the project may jeopardize state funding, Goulet said. He said the county has already received two six-month extensions on the funding deadline, and he said he is not sure state officials will grant another extension.

The county has the right to begin grading under a preliminary environmental study that was issued when the site was selected from among five possible locations last year, Goulet said.

But he said plans to begin grading early were scrapped this week after farmers, ranchers and city officials from Santa Paula and Ventura complained that the county was not following proper procedures.

“We just concluded that there was sufficient opposition to the concept,” Goulet said. “We decided it was prudent to withdraw the proposal.”

For the past few weeks, the county has been receiving letters in opposition to the early grading, said Robert Braitman, the county’s jail project coordinator.

He said the letters came from farmers, ranchers and city officials in Santa Paula and Ventura, who believe it is premature to clear the lemon orchard on the property. “The general feeling is that the grading is part of the construction itself,” he said.

Fred J. Gientke, general manager of the United Water Conservation District, made a similar complaint earlier this month when he spoke before the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

The district operates the Freeman Diversion Improvement Project about a quarter of a mile southwest of the location, and Gientke said the jail could be in danger of flooding because of its proximity to the dam.

The proposed jail would cover 15 acres and hold 752 inmates. It is designed to alleviate overcrowding in the county’s government center jail in Ventura, which often holds three times its 400-inmate capacity.

The dispute over grading is the latest controversy surrounding the proposed jail.

On Wednesday night, about 80 farmers, ranchers and others met in Santa Paula to add their voices in opposition to locating the proposed jail in their community.

Opponents said the jail site is inappropriate because it is located in a flood plain, near an earthquake fault and on a possible Indian burial ground. Others expressed concern that the jail would invite further development in the area.

Richard Main, a spokesman for Citizens for Sound Environmental Policy of Santa Paula, said he is unhappy that citrus orchards will be removed to build the jail facility. “Telegraph Road will be a prime candidate for increased development,” Main said. “There will be pressure from developers and farmers who want out of farming.”

Times correspondent Janet Bergamo contributed to this story.