San Luis Obispo County residents and officials alike are ready to “get on with Bob Jones’n it” after repeated hiccups stalled the long-awaited but incomplete Bob Jones city-to-sea trail.
“The tourist revenue from what is likely to be a top tourist attraction will pay back your investment many times over, beyond resident benefit,” county resident Anne Wyatt wrote to the Board of Supervisors ahead of its Jan. 14 meeting.
The incomplete trail that’s missing a 4.5-mile strip between the Octagon Barn and the Ontario Road parking lot now has renewed support in the form of a two-phased construction approach, an additional $5 million budget injection, and county supervisors’ 4-0 vote of approval.
First District Supervisor John Peschong recused himself from the vote because he accepted a $1,750 donation to his 2023 supervisorial campaign from landowner Ray Bunnell. Bunnell opposed the county’s previous plan of action that involved exercising the eminent domain process on a portion of his 146-acre ranch along Highway 1/101.
The possibility of applying eminent domain—the power afforded to governments to take private property for public use and reimburse the landowner for its value—came to a halt last summer when then 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold cast the lone dissenting vote for a resolution of necessity—making the vote 3-1. The resolution needed four of five affirmative votes.
With an $18 million Active Transportation Program grant from the California Transportation Commission that has a time constraint, supervisors directed staff to pursue a final project proposal in collaboration with Caltrans and the SLO Council of Governments to save the trail.
The proposal details that the first phase of construction, which must be finished this year using grant money, completes the northern portion of the gap from the Octagon Barn to Clover Ridge Lane. The second phase will build the southern section in 2027. The transportation commission will review the plan at its Jan. 31 meeting.
The changed approach made 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding wonder if he’d have voted in favor of the eminent domain process at all.
“I would’ve hoped we had an option like this instead of having to utilize the eminent domain process, but as we’ve seen, we’ve increased the project cost by millions of dollars,” he said at the meeting. “If I could go back to that decision, knowing that there was this potential alternative to reroute it onto the freeway, I’m not sure how I would have voted.”
Bunnell expressed at the meeting that there shouldn’t be any more attempts at applying eminent domain. His attorney Edwin Rambuski told supervisors that the proposed phase one construction at Clover Ridge Lane affects the landowner.
“At the end of Clover Ridge Lane [are] our agricultural operations currently leased to Talley Farms,” Rambuski said. “Access to that farming operation is off Clover Ridge Lane. When the trail runs on Clover Ridge Lane and gets near the end … the access is pinched out about 6 feet.”
In a Jan. 12 letter to supervisors, Bunnell wrote that modifying the construction plan—such as taking the trail completely off the existing paved section of Clover Ridge Lane on the highway side and not putting parking along the lane except for emergency vehicles—could mean a donation for the county.
“Baron Canyon and Bunnell Ranch are also offering to donate a 10-foot-wide strip of land adjacent to the Caltrans right of way to facilitate the design, construction, and maintenance of the trail,” he wrote.
Public Works Director John Diodati said that the county is willing to work with Bunnell and added that he gave Bunnell a written commitment that the project proposal won’t include a plan to put permanent parking on Clover Ridge Lane.
Opting for the two-prong method means that the total project cost jumped to $48.3 million, which is more than originally planned.
Since SLOCOG and Caltrans increased their contributions to the project and exhausted their funding options, supervisors approved reallocating $5 million from a capital projects fund that currently contains a balance of $14.2 million, which is funding kept aside for financing facility or capital projects.
Some local residents are also keen on propping up the project with more money. In November 2024, Friends of the Bob Jones Trail nonprofit started a fundraising campaign to gather $1 million.
At the Board of Supervisors meeting, Friends Treasurer Lea Brooks said that the group secured more than $223,000 from more than 100 individual donations. Donors pitched in from all corners of the county and the country—from the five supervisorial districts to the states of Colorado, Washington, and Pennsylvania. PG&E is also matching donations from its employees and retirees, Brooks added.
“One supporter established a $10,000 match in memory of her late husband who loved the pathway,” she said. “The Avila Beach County Business Improvement District has recommended a $15,000 grant. … We have pledges for 2027. We’re off to a great start.” Δ
This article appears in Jan 16-26, 2025.