Ojai to the Sea

City residents finally got a look at preliminary plans for the long-awaited Ventura River Trail on Thursday night.

Although the trail remains popular with many residents, several landowners whose properties abut the trail expressed reservations about the project at the City Hall meeting.

The 5.8-mile trail, which would connect to the longer Ojai Valley Trail, has been in the works for more than a decade. The project has been stalled for many years as the city performed environmental reviews and sought grant money for the $4-million project.

Don Zermeno, whose truck and crane business could be dissected by the trail, said he was concerned about liability and vandalism.

“My trucks are always in and out of that area,” Zermeno said. “I don’t want some kid on his bike to get run over. It’s a hard-hat area.”

Former Mayor Tom Buford, an attorney representing about 10 landowners, said the city hasn’t been forthright in answering his clients’ concerns.

“There are a lot of questions of liability and they haven’t been answered by the city,” he said.

Project Manager Tim Bochum said the city will consider moving the trail in certain areas and erecting chain-link fences to avoid possible hazards. The City Council will vote on the project’s final design in the fall, Bochum said.

Jon Avery, founder of the 60-member Gold Coast Velo Cycling Club of Ventura, said his organization is looking forward to the trail’s completion.

“It’s a great way to get in and out of the Ojai Valley--much nicer than biking in traffic,” Avery said. “I know a lot of people who live in the valley and would commute to work by bike if the trail were there.”

The paved bicycle and pedestrian trail, which would connect Ojai with Ventura’s beach promenade, would be dotted with several picnic areas and would be extensively landscaped, with features including interpretive signs and a sculpture garden. Plans also call for an equestrian trail, probably made of decomposed granite, to extend for about two miles beyond the Ojai Valley Trail, which ends in Foster Park.

“I’m not sure we want horses going all the way to the beach and I don’t think we have the money to extend the equestrian trail farther anyway,” City Councilman Gary Tuttle said.

The trail would follow the defunct Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, which parallel the Ventura River bottom, then cut inland along oil fields and beside a residential area. The tracks, which were laid at the turn of the century and abandoned about two decades ago, were used to haul oranges and passengers between Ojai and Ventura.

City officials estimate the path’s cost at $4 million, and the city so far has raised nearly $2 million in state and federal grants and city funds. Bochum said the project could begin regardless of whether additional funding is received.

“Right now we have enough money to build about three miles of the trail,” he said. “I’m confident we’ll be able to raise the rest pretty soon.”

Officials hope to begin the project in December and complete it within a year. They estimate the trail would be used by 435,000 people annually.

Ojai City Manager Andy Belknap said the existing Ojai Valley Bike Trail has been a boon to bike enthusiasts hoping to commute to work.

“It’s a key component for encouraging people to commute by bike,” Belknap said. “It’s been a huge success. I think connecting it to Ventura will make it an even bigger success.”

Another benefit is tourism, Tuttle said.

“A bike path this beautiful will attract people to the area,” he said. “It should’ve been built years ago.”