Bike Trail Plan Gets Rolling With Meetings

Backers of a proposed 32-mile trail through rural Ventura County dream of the day when cyclists will peddle through historic towns and lush fields of avocados and citrus.

But the farmers who grow those crops see that prospect as a nightmare.

The reality of the Santa Paula Branch Line Recreation Trail, however, is more than a decade away--if it is ever completed.

In a series of public workshops beginning this week, both sides will hear details of the plan to construct a trail along the railway line that follows the Santa Clara River from Montalvo nearly to the county line.

“The biggest thing we’re lacking around here is a bike path,” said Barry Brenner, an owner of Cycle Scene in Ventura who has served on a community advisory committee on planning the trail. “It’s like if you’re a skier and you never had a ski slope, and they’re putting a chair lift in.”

Farmers say the proposed trail, which would be built on former railroad land adjoining farmland, is more like constructing a hiking path through a factory floor.

“We feel that it would really create a lot of conflicts. . . . Recreation and agriculture are just a bad mix,” said Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau.

Mary Alice Henderson, president and founder of the Santa Paula Historical Society, believes the trail will enable her group to show off the area’s heritage.

“It spans the entire history of California, and if we can accent that . . . I think it will be a tremendous attribute,” Henderson said.

But she also sympathizes with property owners, noting that their worries should be resolved.

Norman Wilkinson, public works director and city engineer in Santa Paula, agrees that developing a plan to make the trail compatible with everyone in the Santa Clara Valley is necessary.

But he eagerly anticipates the trail and has already secured about $1 million for the Santa Paula portion.

“It will be a place where people can come and make a very nice day of riding through the last remaining agricultural valley in Southern California,” he said, predicting it would be one of the premier trails in the state.

The Ventura County Transportation Commission bought land for the trail in 1995 from Southern Pacific for $8.5 million after receiving an interest-free loan from the county for most of the corridor and $1 million from the cities of Ventura and Santa Paula. The property follows a rail line for 32 miles from Montalvo to Rancho Camulos, east of Piru.

The commission worked on a 50-page master plan for a year and then began intensive planning on the “rail-to-trail” project, hiring several consulting firms and establishing an advisory committee.

One segment of the trail, a two-mile length in Fillmore, already has been built.

Although the agricultural community has worked closely with trail planners to try to resolve their differences, Laird said there is no more room for compromise. The county farm bureau officially decided earlier this month not to support any trail that would affect agricultural land, citing a potential for increased liability and vandalism as well as lost land.

“I think we have to stand up for ourselves and say, ‘Hey, we have a right to do what we do,’ ” Laird said.

Farmers are concerned that too many of the hundreds of thousands of hikers and bikers expected to traverse the trail each year would wander onto their land, creating liabilities and raising insurance rates. They also worry that more people means more vandals and thieves.

“It’s beautiful to look at, but it’s not a picture. It’s a business,” said Randy Axell, whose family has been growing avocados and citrus fruits for four generations in Ventura County.

Earl McPhail, Ventura County agricultural commissioner, said he would have to compel farmers to section off a buffer zone of land if there were any complaints when growers sprayed pesticides. More than 350 acres of land would be lost, local farmers figure.

“I can see that it’s not going to be too long into the life of the trail before that would happen,” McPhail said.

Ed Terry has an idea what Santa Clara Valley farmers would experience if the trail is built. A half-mile bike trail built more than a decade ago near his farm in Oxnard has always been a nuisance, he said. Terry has had no problems with liability, but has seen an increase in trash on his land.

Although his problems have been seemingly minor, Terry is against the proposed Santa Paula project.

“It would be no different if you went over to Procter & Gamble and said, ‘We want to build a bike trail through your factory floor,’ ” Terry said.

Ultimately, the county does not need farmer approval to construct, said Transportation Commission Executive Director Ginger Gherardi--although she would not speculate whether the commission would proceed without that backing.

Agriculturist apprehensions are normal, said Kate Bickert, California state director for Rails to Trails Conservancy in San Francisco. And she believes there are more than enough ways to address them.

“Experience has shown that the fears aren’t realized,” Bickert said.

The California Recreational Use Statute protects property owners from liability for people on their property for public-use purposes. Only in cases of gross negligence are landowners held liable, Bickert said.

“The courts have been really clear saying public access is a public benefit and property owners shouldn’t be punished for that,” she said.

And the Transportation Commission also has offered to pay for legal costs not covered by the statute. Farmers say they appreciate the efforts made to appease their concerns but still philosophically disagree.

“There is no compromise,” Axell said.

County Supervisor Kathy Long said she too still has a number of questions about whether or not the interface of agriculture and recreation is workable for everyone.

“Unless I get answers, I won’t support this,” Long said, noting she plans to attend the three workshops to see if she can get answers.

Gherardi said the meetings will give the Transportation Commission a chance to get a sense of what the community thinks about the trail.

Planners must first complete an alignment plan, which will determine the exact path of the trail. Once that is approved by the commission, they will work to find the needed millions to construct it.

No matter how strong property owner opposition may be, portions of the trail, at least in the city areas, will go forward, Gherardi said.

“Whether or not a trail is constructed in the agricultural areas, remains to be seen,” she said.

In the meantime, farmers such as Axell will continue to oppose the trail. “We are going to be here for the rest of our time and have to live and work with whatever comes down the line,” he said.

FYI

Workshops on the Santa Paula Branch Line Recreation Trail plan will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the following dates:

* Wednesday, Santa Paula Community Center, 530 W. Main St.

* July 29, Fillmore City Hall council chambers, 250 Central Ave.

* July 30, Saticoy Community Center, 1168 Violeta St.