Construction to Resume on Santa Rosa Road : Supervisors: Under compromise approved by the board, crews must take extra care not to destroy Native American remains and artifacts.

Construction crews can resume work on Santa Rosa Road east of Camarillo, but must take extra care not to destroy the remains of Native Americans and other archeologically significant artifacts, Ventura County supervisors decided Tuesday.

Four supervisors scrapped a staff recommendation that the site fails to meet state legal qualifications as an “important archeological resource” and that it does not constitute a Native American “sanctified” cemetery.

Instead, the board approved a compromise plan to allow crews to continue road construction provided that they look for artifacts in areas that have yet to be graded and halt all work if artifacts or human remains are discovered. Supervisor John K. Flynn was absent from the vote.

“We are satisfied with this, generally,” said A Lul Koy Lotah, an Ojai resident who is considered by state officials to be a descendant of Chumash tribe members. “We have established a dialogue, and I am hopeful that they will now listen to our concerns when we voice them.”

But Lotah said she predicted that the numbers of burials that will be discovered at the site will once again hobble the construction project.

“I’m glad that we were able to talk, but I’m convinced that we have discovered a (Chumash) village at the site and there will be many, many more sets of remains found there,” she said.

During the meeting, Supervisor Vicky Howard said the board could support the Public Works Department’s revised “go-slow” approach to resuming construction. But she refused to declare the site archeologically unimportant, thus allowing crews to resume work without concern about destroying what could be a significant archeological discovery.

“We cannot make the finding that the site is unimportant as long as we have virgin territory to explore out there,” Howard said.

Arthur E. Goulet, the county’s public works director, said he was pleased to have negotiated an agreement with the Native Americans that satisfied everyone.

“Our intent was never to destroy history here,” he said. “Our intent was to find an acceptable solution to all parties that would allow us to get back to work.”

As part of the written agreement approved by the supervisors, the Public Works Department will:

* Resume road construction work at the site, but remove only 1 1/2 inches of earth at a time so not to disturb artifacts.

* Halt work if additional cremation pits, remains or relics are discovered so that artifacts could be saved and remains could be properly reburied by tribal custom.

* Conduct a detailed archeological investigation of a natural earthen berm at the site that has not been graded.

* Establish a work plan for two archeologists who are supervising the work on-site and keep Native American monitors on the site during construction.

The project to widen all 11 miles of Santa Rosa Road was interrupted in one area in December after grading crews unearthed a cremation chamber containing the remains of two to three Native Americans.

In early February, scientists working the site discovered a series of round, smooth stones that may have been part of a Chumash burial ritual.

Construction on the 90-year-old road began in 1990 and is being done in three phases, with the final phase to be completed next year. The project aims to widen and eliminate blind curves and hills on the two-lane thoroughfare that runs between Camarillo and the north end of Thousand Oaks.

County officials estimate that an estimated 10,000 commuters use the road daily.