Despite ecological concerns, Kern assures off-road park will be environmentally sound

Oct. 1—After years of false starts and stammering, county officials assured the public Tuesday that the site for their new off-road vehicle park will meet the necessary environmental standards.

This comes months after the county confirmed in July a location of interest for the park, a 787-acre former oil field east of Highway 65 and north of James Road.

While still early, the county hopes to purchase it by September 2024, with the estimated $1.53 million budgeted — which includes state grant funds awarded several years ago.

While not the most pressing affair for most localities, an off-road vehicle park, where motor enthusiasts can legally ride trails on motorbikes, ATVs and such at their leisure, is a relatively big deal in Kern County.

To Dick Taylor, a military veteran and former director of the Kern County Veterans Service Department, the park is a win-win for everybody. Beyond economic sense — another draw for tourism — it's a much-needed end to what should have been done years ago.

"And is everyone going to be riding motorbikes? No, it's not everyone's thing," Taylor said. "But pickleball is not everybody's thing, either."

Many are forced to drive miles outside the city to find parks in Jawbone Canyon or in Buttonwillow, which is why the plan is heralded by dirt bike and ATV buffs hankering for a closer outlet to get their fix.

Or, as explained by Kern County spokeswoman Ally Soper in July, some resort to illegal riding at other public parks, like Hart and Panorama, as well as private property. The county believes a public site would be a deterrent to what is an inevitable occurrence.

"And provide a monitored space for residents to safely enjoy this activity," she wrote.

Taylor agrees, adding that "providing a legal, safe riding location" is statistically proven to diminish illegal riding.

Kern's preferred location for the site, which rubs along Poso Creek, however, has raised early alarms with local environmentalists who say the park surmounts ecological concerns.

At the Tuesday meeting, Eddy Laine, a member of the executive committee of the Sierra Club's Kern-Kaweah Chapter, said the park's state application ignored key findings, and doesn't meet requirements set by the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.

His arguments circled about a preliminary review by AECOM, an engineering firm, which he said reviewed seven potential sites.

Across several letters, Laine lays out his argument: the site was not among those the firm was hired to review and recommend; the firm recommended avoiding "major streams" including Poso Creek, which the site borders; there are oil wells on or near the site, as Chevron USA holds mineral rights to 307 acres which the firm said "could impact the use of the property,"; and there are power lines overhead just as there are endangered critters below, including two animals with special status or are federally protected — the San Joaquin Badger and San Joaquin Kit Fox — which Laine said were observed on the site prior to the date of the application submission.

"Yet in the application version it indicated that there was no endangered species or special species there," Laine said Tuesday. "So how can you find the finding but say in the application that it's not there."

His concerns echo a series of letters his group wrote to the state's parks and recreation department, the county's general services division and other agencies.

"The cumulative impact of these issues were such that the Sierra Club is recommending the application be withdrawn," Laine said.

At the same meeting, Kern Planning and Natural Resources Director Lorelei Oviatt said that a full environmental review and conditional use permit have not yet been finalized, adding that these concerns are "premature."

"We appreciate these comments that the Sierra Club have been submitting," Oviatt said. "However, there is apparently either a misunderstanding of the process or a wilful ignoring of the process."

Oviatt assured that the proximity to Poso Creek is "an EIR issue," and that the majority of Laine's concerns — mineral rights, overhead power lines, etc. — will be addressed by the Kern Planning and Natural Resources Department, not general services, before it goes to the Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors.

"It appears the Sierra Club wants a de-facto EIR process ...," she said. "We intend to go through the one the state of California has adopted and all of the information that has been requested will be analyzed with a full opportunity."

Oviatt said it all boils down to the interested parties wanting to know what the design of the park will look like and who the vendors are.

"No one is ignoring these letters," Oviatt said.

But the site remains on hold as the county prepares environmental and mineral rights reviews, which Oviatt said they have 14 months to complete.