Conservancy strives to start Santa Maria greenway

Efforts to establish the Santa Maria Creek Greenway and to clean up more of the creek bed are underway, said Kit Kesinger, a Ramona resident and member of the Iron Mountain Conservancy (IMC).

Kesinger reported at the Ramona Community Planning Group’s Dec. 3 meeting that the conservancy’s greenway team has met with county Parks and Recreation Department staff, Ramona Trails Association and the planning group’s Transportation and Trails Subcommittee in the past three months.

At the county meeting, Kesinger said IMC identified its long-term vision for the greenway to include multi-use trails, trail head with parking, picnic areas, bike racks, hitching posts, and rest areas with boulders for seating and mounting horses. Goals include improving water quality, flood control and circulation within Ramona.

The concept is one that has been around for years, and is proposed to run along the creek from the Montecito Road staging area to Wellfield Park.

Kesinger said county parks is not committed to active acquisition of properties for the greenway, but the current approach is to require dedications during subdivisions, new construction or other land use changes that need a discretionary permit. Nickel Creek Apartments at the north end of 14th Street has dedicated trails and environmental easements for the greenway and is the first dedication of land since 2006, the year the county Board of Supervisors directed staff to identify potential sources of funding to acquire land from willing sellers. At this rate, Kesinger said, it “will take centuries for the greenway.”

To speed up the process, Kesinger said the greenway team is proposing to accomplish the following:

▪ Organize an umbrella organization with a name such as Friends of the Greenway, consisting of representatives from various organizations providing a voice on how the greenway should be developed.

▪ Create a community fund to address maintenance and operations, with the hope of minimizing costs with work accomplished by volunteers.

▪ For property owners willing to make trail and environmental dedications now, incentives include the county taking on the responsibility of building trails and other improvements, saving property owners those costs, which would be mandated at the time of development; and a voluntary dedication of easements of property could be a tax deductible donation.

“We’re saying this is an initial proposal for discussion,” said Kesinger.

Planning group secretary Kristi Mansolf suggested that the proposal be discussed at the group’s next Parks and Recreation Subcommittee meeting.

Kesinger also said the greenway team met with representatives from the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), a department of the United States Department of Agriculture, on Oct. 14, about removing invasive plants from the creek bed. The meeting included a tour of the creek, and Kesinger said the work could qualify for NRCS grants.

“They stated they believe our creek is eligible for the grant program,” he said.

Any work done under the grant program would need permission from property owners, he said. The section of the creek includes land owned by the county, Caltrans, the Ramona Municipal Water District, and private ownership.

“The RMWD land at Wellfield Park is considered pivotal to successfully controlling invasive plants, because the park is infested with tamarisk that is a seed source for further contamination of downstream properties,” Kesinger stated in a report on the meeting.

While all property owners will need to be contacted to obtain permission, Kesinger said the initial action would be to obtain support from the water district.

Planning group chair Jim Piva said he applauds the conservancy’s efforts.

“I’m all in favor of getting the creek cleaned up,” he said.

Planners unanimously agreed to continue to support IMC’s efforts.