County Must Settle Scouts’ Land Fight

The range war between the Girl Scouts and 12 neighboring families along Old Creek Road near Ojai has gone far enough.

Ventura County government, which collects property taxes in an area that is left inaccessible for part of each year because flood waters cover the only road in or out, must take the lead on resolving this dispute. But the Tres Condados Girl Scout Council, rather than simply locking the gate and leaving area residents stranded, should negotiate a phaseout period of the easement that historically has allowed them to cut across Scout property during these times.

The situation illustrates how unwise it is to permit building in predictably perilous areas such as flood plains and fire-prone canyons. When floods and fires come to such places, as they inevitably will, it falls to taxpayers who can’t afford to live there to bail out those who can.

The Old Creek Road dispute has been building for two years. With no progress at a July mediation session, the matter is headed for court in December. We believe the litigants’ beef is not with each other but with the county, which is responsible for ensuring safe access to homes it allows to be built and occupied.

The problem is San Antonio Creek. For a week or two most winters, the rain-swollen creek flows over Old Creek Road. It carries along downed trees and boulders and is impossible to cross. For the many decades some of these homes have stood, residents were allowed to unlock a gate facing Old Creek Road, drive a quarter-mile across the Girl Scout camp, unlock another gate, and head down Sulphur Mountain Road to California 33. But after El Nino rains two years ago stretched the period of needed emergency access to a full month, the Girl Scout Council decided it had had enough. Citing concern for its Scouts, the council changed the locks and declared the escape route off-limits.

As a private entity, the Tres Condados Girl Scout Council should not have to accommodate outside traffic across its land if it chooses not to. That is true regardless of whether that traffic is a large inconvenience, a small inconvenience or no inconvenience. Conversely, area residents who were allowed to build homes along Old Creek Road and are required to pay taxes on them should reasonably expect year-round access to the outside world.

Building a bridge massive enough to withstand the seasonal deluge would be costly and an environmental mess. Instead, the county should work with area residents to identify, purchase and construct an alternative escape route that does not depend on the charitable forbearance of private parties.

Even Girl Scouts.