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SLO County supervisor blocks plan to take property by eminent domain

August 21, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Debbie Arnold voted Tuesday against taking a man’s property by eminent domain in order to complete the Bob Jones Trail from the Octagon Barn off South Higuera Street to Avila Beach. A vote that has at least temporarily halted the proposed project.

And while all five supervisors support the project, supervisors Arnold and John Peschong have voiced objection to using eminent domain for recreational projects. Taking property through eminent domain requires a 4/5 vote.

Ray Bunnell has repeatedly refused to sell a portion of his land for the project.

Noting her steadfast support of property rights, Arnold voted against condemnation. Supervisor Peschong recused himself from the vote because of a conflict of interest. Bunnell donated $1,750 to Peschong in 2023.

The state awarded San Luis Obispo County $18 million to complete the Bob Jones Bike Trail from the Octagon Barn off South Higuera Street to Avila Beach. However, if the county is unable to start construction on the project by March 2025, it will lose the $18 million grant and will also have to pay back a previous $2.3 million grant, which it has already spent.

 


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I believe in property rights, that’s a core concept to our country.


The only thing that makes me feel a little weird on this one is Bunnell doesn’t live here, he’s been in Texas for several years and rents this property out. That doesn’t change his property rights, but it’s part of the discussion.


He collects rent on a lot of properties that he worked hard to develop, and that’s understandable.


I just feel like the discussion circling around the impact to him as a SLO County Resident isn’t quite accurate. He doesn’t live here.


-2

What happened to taking “No” for an answer?

Bunnell already has a hell of a problem with hobo encampments along San Luis Creek. He probably figures a bike path will just exacerbate the problem and he knows he won’t get any assistance from the county in mitigating it.


16

For 0.16 acres of land, the county’s taxpayers are out millions of dollars and a multi decade in the making infrastructure project is now dead. Shame on Mr. Bunnell for not negotiating in good faith and shame on the Supervisors who did the irresponsible thing by procrastinating on studies of unsafe alternatives and siding with one NIMBY over every resident and visitor who would have benefited from a safe, scenic path from the city to the sea.


-17

FYI; Under eminent domain, property owners are paid market value for their property.


1

The difficulty is in the valuation of the property. Who determines the market value? In this case I sure wouldn’t want the county to do it. But luckily, the issue isn’t the money..


9

The County didn’t determine the price, it was an independent third party. The issue is the public good – something Arnold doesn’t believe in.


-9

You can tell quite a bit about people when they don’t get “their way”… the tantrums and fits… BUT this was private property and the guy said no. The Bike mafia from SLO lost. They can go back to destroying parking spaces and painting nonsense lanes.


17

Interesting perspective, most of the opinions published and loved on this site are screeds about bike lanes, or having to pay for parking, public employees being paid… at all, or the idea of taxes. But a selfish property owner single handedly killing a general good project and (important to both you and I) costing the taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Isn’t it it weird to enjoy political dysfunction?


-12

Political dysfunction is the farcical notion that cities need to be connected by continuous, stand-alone, dedicated bicycle paths costing tens of millions of dollars when roadways and railways already exist for that purpose. Political dysfunction is the lack of will to prevent already existing bike pathways from becoming corridors of homeless crime and environmental chaos.


12

You totally misunderstand. My point is that County elected officials chose this project as a priority, authorized staff to make plans, seek funding, they then won a competitive process to fund the project, signed contracts accepting and spending someone elses money. Then now, on the eve of ground breaking a two decade project, ONE elected official changed their mind and so the whole county has gone back on their word, and flushed down the toilet all the time and money spent on this project.


Arnold has made us all liars, and contract breakers. If I were the state, why should I ever give the County of SLO any money – if they can’t even use eminent domain to acquire a fraction of an acre adject to a highway, for a massively popular and well planned project, how will they ever build any piece of infrastructure? When one unreasonable property owner can persuade one lame duck politician to veto a project, nothing is ever going to get done. That’s political dysfunction.


(As a side note I would happily trade the Bob Jones for a railway from SLO to Avila – where should we lay the tracks??)


-9

Debbie has never changed her mind on this issue. And, it was the proponents of this project that lied when applying for the grant when they said that they had already obtained ALL of the property required for the bike path.


11

Astute Observer, No one was talking to you or replying to you, address the Policies, events and arguments, not the person.


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