Bob Jones Trail is supposed to connect SLO to the sea. But there’s one big problem
The vision for the Bob Jones Trail has always called for linking the path in Avila Beach to the stretch in San Luis Obispo that now ends at the Octagon Barn — but the project has hit a few roadblocks over the years.
Without that 4.5-mile connection, the walking and biking route from the city to the sea is incomplete.
That’s because at least one property owner, Ray Bunnell, has refused to sell a sliver of his San Luis Obispo land to accommodate the project.
Meanwhile, two county supervisors oppose using the eminent domain process to acquire land to expand the trail — which effectively halted the project’s progress.
But now, there may be a new path forward for expanding the trail.
On Tuesday, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to direct staff to create a presentation on how they could re-design the project in a way that avoids construction on Bunnell’s property.
In November, county staff will present the new design to the board, according to San Luis Obispo County Public Works Director John Diodati.
Eventually, the board will vote on whether or not to pursue the new pathway design.
Battle over the Bunnell property
In February 2021, the state’s Active Transportation Program awarded the county $18.25 million to expand the Bob Jones Trail.
The county planned to conduct soil boring tests near Clover Ridge Lane on the edge of Bunnell’s land to design a bridge for the trail over San Luis Obispo Creek, according to court documents — but Bunnell refused to allow the county to purchase an easement there.
In July 2021, the county filed a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court to use eminent domain to compel Bunnell to sell, according to court documents.
His 80-acre property is located next to Highway 101 and San Luis Obispo Creek.
The land is zoned for agriculture and includes a residence “located some distance” away from proposed trail, a court document said.
“Nothing is really going through the Bunnell property,” Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said. “It’s sort of clipping the edge of the property.”
In order for the county to use the eminent domain process to acquire the land, however, four of the five supervisors must vote to approve it — but one supervisor doesn’t support the use of eminent domain, and the other can’t vote on the project.
In September 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1439, which expands the Levine Act to prohibit local elected officials from voting on a project if a financially affected party donates more than $250 to the official’s campaign.
According to campaign finance documents, Bunnell donated $1,000 to Peschong’s campaign for re-election in May — preventing the supervisor from participating in a vote on the project.
If Peschong could vote on the trail expansion, however, he said he wouldn’t support using eminent domain to acquire the land.
Peschong hopes the county can find a way to expand the Bob Jones Trail, but he only supports using the eminent domain process if it’s necessary for public safety, he said.
“I believe that people should come together — not, you know, fight these things out in court,” Peschong said. “Just go talk to each other and figure out if they can make it work.”
Supervisor Debbie Arnold also opposes using eminent domain for the project “out of respect for private property owners,” she told The Tribune.
She prefers that the county find a new route for the trail that doesn’t interfere with private property.
“It’s a want, not a need,” Arnold said of the trail’s location.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, because the county must meet state deadlines to keep the $18.25 million grant.
The county must approve a design and acquire the necessary land by June 30, 2024, according to county Public Works Department project manager Aaron Yonker.
Without the four votes needed to move the project forward, Ortiz-Legg proposed that the county redesign the trail to avoid the Bunnell property altogether.
“We’re hitting a brick wall, so we’re going to look into other alternatives,” Ortiz-Legg said.
Ortiz-Legg said she’s “frustrated” by Arnold’s no vote.
“It really could be a big boon for the entire neighborhood,” she said of the trail. “We’re talking about something that really has a great benefit to not only our working people that could ride their bikes back and fourth from San Luis Obispo all the way to Pismo, but also to our tourism industry.”
“Anytime that we can get the bikes on their own trail like they do in Europe, I think is really an important quality-of-life issue,” she added, noting that it’s safer for cyclists and drivers.
The county is currently negotiating with owners of other properties to acquire easements for the proposed trail, Ortiz-Legg said.
“There’s ongoing negotiations right now to make sure that everybody is taken care of and gets their concerns and needs addressed in this process,” she said.
SLO Land Conservancy acquires land for Bob Jones Trail
Bob Jones, the trail’s namesake, was originally a board member for the SLO Land Conservancy, according to the organization’s deputy director Daniel Bohlman.
“You might say the trail and his vision are rooted in the history of the conservancy,” Bohlman said.
The conservancy owns the Octagon Barn in San Luis Obispo, which will serve as a trailhead for the Bob Jones Trail if the project moves forward, he said.
The conservancy also owns about 150 acres of land on either side of San Luis Bay Drive that abuts the proposed pathway for the trail. The land is an active floodplain that the conservancy maintains, and also includes an apple orchard, according to Bohlman.
Bohlman said the conservancy will allow the county to build the trail through its land, and he’s particularly excited that the path may be built next to the apple orchard.
“It gets people close to experiencing agriculture firsthand,” he said. “People could pop off the trail and go to a ‘you-pick.’”
He also said the trail expansion project is important because it allows cyclists to commute safety in the South County away from the highway.
“You could now safely bike, for example, between Shell Beach, Avila Beach, Pismo Beach, and even further south than that, in a way that takes you safely, on a class one connector trail, off the highway,” he said.
Bohlman said he hopes the county can build the trail.
“When you look at communities that have this access to open space, you see that the communities are healthier, you see that those communities are happier, and I think that the Bob Jones trail plays a huge role in that,” Bohlman said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2023 at 10:00 AM.
