Street Fight Shaping Up Over 2 Projects

Emboldened by the passage of the SOAR growth-control measures, county Supervisors John Flynn and Kathy Long want to halt two road improvement projects along a stretch of California 118 in the Los Posas Valley that residents fear would lead to more development.

Residents are concerned that the projects, scheduled to break ground in the summer of 2001, are just the beginning of a larger plan to widen a 16-mile stretch of the highway.

Calling themselves Save Our Somis, the residents say the larger, $11.8-million widening project will lead to uncontrolled growth and the loss of valued farmland.

Flynn and Long will attempt to persuade their colleagues at Tuesday’s board meeting to direct staff to analyze whether the Caltrans projects abide by the SOAR, or Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources, measure.

The countywide initiative, approved by nearly 63% of the voters in November, prevents politicians from rezoning farmland and open space without voter approval.

“We need to pause and think about these projects,” Flynn said. “We need to make sure we understand they are compatible with what the people recently said they wanted.”

Flynn and Long said many members of Save Our Somis have visited their offices, expressing concern about the two road projects and the long-range widening plan.

But Supervisor Judy Mikels said the projects were imperative for the safety of motorists.

One would widen and straighten the notorious Mesa School S-curve, located midway between Somis and Saticoy. That patch of roadway has logged more than 600 accidents since 1990, resulting in 20 deaths.

The other would widen a stretch of the two-lane rural Highway 118 and make other improvements around its intersections with California 34 and Donlon Road.

“These projects are a safety issue, not a growth-inducing issue,” Mikels said. “This is not an attempt to move up the widening of California 118, if the widening ever takes place.”

Further, Mikels said, the SOAR measure actually prevents the influx of uncontrolled development without the support of residents.

“People are worried that if you build a better transportation system, more people will come,” Mikels said. “But we can’t rezone agriculture land without a vote of the people. . . . We need to improve these two dangerous areas of the highway.”

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Flynn and Long say they will request that the California Department of Transportation conduct full environmental impact studies on both road projects. They also want to direct staff to determine whether Caltrans is legally permitted to spend maintenance and road rehabilitation funds on the projects.

“We have to address the growth-inducing issues,” Long said. “The people of Somis want to see Somis stay small. They would hate to see [the projects] change the picture of the small town.”