Supervisors Approve Trail Agreement

Most of the proposed 32-mile Santa Paula Branch Line Recreation Trail will not be constructed for at least 15 years because of an agreement among the Board of Supervisors, the county Transportation Commission and the county Farm Bureau.

As a compromise with farmers, the bike and pedestrian trail, which will run along the Santa Clara River roughly paralleling California 126, could still be constructed within the cities of Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ventura and Piru, but not in the roughly 24 miles of unincorporated land in between.

“The cities can build within the city limits, but importantly for us the agreement encourages our ability to farm the properties adjacent to the railroad right of way,” said Bob Pinkerton, president of the Ventura County Farm Bureau.

Farmers were concerned that having the public so close to farmland would cause liability problems, along with potential trespassing and theft of crops.

This agreement buys them time. “A lot of things can change politically in that time in terms of [land management],” Pinkerton said.

Chris Stephens, deputy director for the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said the agreement doesn’t change the overall plan that much.

“Throughout the entire process we have been trying to come up with a design which would work for [the farmers],” Stephens said. “We won’t have to alter our plans significantly because we did not expect to get to those portions of the trail for at least 10 years.”

Stephens said the Farm Bureau has agreed not to challenge the environmental impact report and master plan for the trail, which are needed to ensure that Santa Paula and Piru get funding for construction of their portions of the trail.

The Board of Supervisors approved the agreement Tuesday. Transportation commissioners passed it last Friday, and the Farm Bureau is expected to vote on it in the next few months.

The Transportation Commission will hear public comments on the trail at its monthly meeting at 1 p.m. on March 3 at Camarillo City Hall.