A planned extension of the Bob Jones Trail may not happen following a vote by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 on the motion of eminent domain. Supervisor Debbie Arnold voted against the motion while Supervisor John Peschong recused himself.
"Eminent domain is used when there's something owned by a private property owner but is beneficial to the public good and therefore we were trying to get four votes to see if we could start that process,” Dawn Ortiz-Legg Third District Supervisor said.
The Bob Jones expansion project would close a 4.5-mile gap in the trail, connecting it from San Luis Obispo to Pismo Beach.
The trail would run along the bottom of Ray Bunnell's property for just over a mile next to Highway 101 and San Luis Creek.
KSBY spoke with Bunnell over the phone on Thursday.
He said he’s been fighting the county on the trail for 15 years and has written several letters to the board of supervisors saying he is not opposed to the trail, but the trail proposition has changed a lot since the beginning of the project. He said in the letter that it would create more danger such as flooding issues, homeless camps, crime, and more for public users.
In a letter to the board of supervisors on August 15, Bunnell said he did not agree to sell part of his 80-acre ranch that would connect the final portion of the Bob Jones Trail.
“There’s no place that we could find a spot that doesn't impact his property,” Ortiz-Legg said.
The project has been years in the making.
“It's been a dream for at least 30 years to extend the trail to San Luis Obispo, hence the name City to Sea Trail,” Lea Brooks, a Friends of the Bob Jones Trail board member, said.
Proponents of the trail said the project could reduce the number of cars on the road and increase safety for bikers.
“Cyclists tell us repeatedly that they want to be separated from traffic with more than a white line and this trail would separate us from vehicle traffic,” Brooks said.
With the eminent domain motion failing to pass, the $18 million in funding from a California Transportation grant is now on the line.
Supervisor Ortiz-Legg told KSBY the county has already asked for one extension of the grant timeline and will ask for another. If not approved, the grant money will need to be given back to donors.
