Park Proposed at Bailard Dump : Recreation: Sanitation officials will study a staff plan to transform the landfill near Oxnard into a regional playground after it closes.

After years of trying to decide what to do with the Bailard Landfill once it closes, sanitation officials unveiled a plan Thursday to transform the dump into a regional park with bicycle paths and two lakes surrounded by sandy beaches.

The Ventura Regional Sanitation District’s board of directors--made up of representatives of the county’s cities and special districts--agreed to study a staff proposal that would convert the landfill and surrounding area into a 280-acre park.

Bailard is scheduled to close at the end of this year. But if board members approve the park plan, district officials said the landfill would have to remain open a few more years in order to raise the estimated $6-million cost of the project.

The landfill is in an unincorporated area west of Oxnard.

The district, which runs Bailard, already is seeking to extend the dump’s operating deadline past its scheduled Dec. 7 closing date to May, 1997.

On Thursday, Oxnard Councilman Andres Herrera, the city’s representative on the sanitation district board, said he would support a phased closure of the dump over the next few years in return for creation of a regional park.

“The only reason we are even considering an extension is to ensure that the closure is done properly,” Herrera said. “This is a first, demonstrative step by the board in that direction. Next, there must be a well-defined plan and some idea as to how we intend to get this done.”

The district’s plan would turn Bailard, the nearby coastal landfill and surrounding farmland into a sprawling regional park bordered by the Santa Clara River on the north and bisected by Victoria Avenue.

In addition to two lakes and miles of hiking and biking trails crisscrossing the park, the plan calls for a pedestrian tunnel under Victoria Avenue, canoe and kayak rentals and a series of exercise stations.

The proposal was a pleasant surprise to Ag Land Services, an Oxnard-based land-management group and adjacent landowner that has been urging the sanitation district to improve the looks of the landfill once it closes.

Ag Land owner Dave White, who hopes to receive permission to build a housing development nearby, said he believes the proposed lakes would help prevent the gases of decaying garbage from seeping up through his property.

“I think it’s certainly a step in the right direction,” White said. “The proposal appears that it would enhance any development we might propose simply because it would take something that was going to be a liability and turn it into an asset.”

Clint Whitney, the district’s general manager, cautioned that the park plan is in its infancy.

He said the district might have to perform a lengthy environmental review on the proposal. He also said the district must locate a water source for the two lakes and find a way to pay for the project.

One potential funding source would be to use the fee charged to landfill customers over the next few years, Whitney said.

“It’s feasible, but there are a lot of hurdles,” Whitney told board members Thursday. “But if we have the will to do it, we can probably overcome all of these constraints.”

Most of the 500,000 tons of trash thrown away each year by western Ventura County residents goes to Bailard.

But the 32-year-old landfill in recent years has become the source of controversy. Oxnard representatives have accused the sanitation district of stalling the landfill’s closure and failing to adequately prepare to shut down the facility.

The district and others countered that Bailard should be kept open because there is no other place for west county residents to dump their trash.

Last month, Herrera, Supervisor John Flynn and Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez issued a statement calling for a well-defined, well-financed plan for the closure of Bailard.

On Thursday, district board members took a step toward creating that plan by agreeing to study whether the dump can be transformed into a park serving the entire county.

“We’re looking for a project that is acceptable to everyone, not just an amenity to the city of Oxnard,” Herrera said.