Millionaire homeowners BAN hikers from stunning hillside
- Ventura residents up in arms over trail proposals for Mariano Rancho Preserve
- Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside say plans for hiking trails are ‘intrusive’
- The average home in Ventura costs more than $880,000
Millionaire California homeowners are attempting to ban hikers from using a hillside near their property – two years after they helped save the green space from property developers by claiming they wanted to keep it for public use.
A residents’ group in the affluent city of Ventura has expressed concerns over plans to set up formal trails in the stunning Mariano Rancho Preserve.
The trails – which are currently traversed by ‘trespassing’ hikers – would create formal pathways on the stunning hillsides overlooking Ventura and the Pacific Ocean.
Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside say allowing the public access under the plans would be, ‘surprisingly and unnecessarily intrusive to residents’, SF Gate reports.
The group was formed in 2015 and successfully killed plans for 55 homes on the site by insisting the land should be preserved for ‘public hiking.’
However, tensions have begun to flare up again after the current landowner, a conservation non-profit, unveiled plans to formalize the trail network and introduce car parking by 2025.
A residents’ group in the affluent city of Ventura has expressed concerns over walkers looking to set up formal trails in the stunning Mariano Rancho Preserve (pictured)
Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside, which opposes the plans, previously campaigned to stop development on the land in 2015 arguing it should be for public use
A diagram showing the proposed trails per the Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside group
Ventura Land Trust bought the hillside in 2020 with plans to preserve the green space.
At the time, Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside hailed the acquisition as ‘very good news’ for its conservation.
Developers have been circling the verdant, 1,600 acre stretch since 2002 and the group was anxious to prevent any homes being built.
In 2022, the trust received $7.2 million from the state to make the purchase and to prepare the hillside for public use.
But now Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside have expressed resistance to the proposals, despite the fact the area has been popular with hikers for decades.
‘As only a smattering of news has emerged regarding the trails, NVH has been inundated with questions about the future of this preserve and its potential impacts to the City of Ventura and its residents,’ a post on their Facebook page states.
Concerns include estimates of up to 1,600 visitors descending every day. However, this has now been revised to 274 hikers per day per an estimate by Ventura Land Trust.
The post also highlights that parts of the trail could be within 150ft of homes, stating by comparison trails at nearby Harmon Canyon are within 650ft.
‘VLT plans to build fencing along the entire border of the property which may block access and obstruct residential views,’ the post continues.
Millionaire California homeowners are attempting to ban hikers from using a hillside near their property
The land was purchased by Ventura Land Trust who proposed turning it over for public use. Pictured: A $2.2 million home in the California city
Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside was set up in 2015 in response to plans for 55 homes at the site. Pictured: Artist rendering of the development
Developers have been circling the verdant hillside for decades. Pictured: Artist rendering of the proposed development in 2015
Neighbors for Ventura Hillside describes itself as, ‘a grassroots organization formed to protect Ventura’s hillside, Ag land and open space’.
It adds that it, ‘played an active role in opposing a development project that the majority of residents believed was inappropriate for the hillside’.
However, its stance towards Ventura Land Trust’s plans have earned it the nickname ‘Neighbors for gatekeeping’ among some disgruntled residents.
‘So Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside advocated for years to preserve the hillside…. And now is up in arms about public access to the very hillsides they fought to protect?’ Local Tanner Shelton wrote.
‘To be blunt, this reeks of gatekeeping of our community’s shared backyard by a disgruntled group of elitist homeowners.’
‘The whole state needs housing and you lot and others like you make life harder. Now you can’t even let hikers use the space as intended? Get over yourselves,’ user Dave Gillis said.
‘Pure un-distilled Not in My Backyard-ism,’ Eugene Koontz added.
The average price of a home in Ventura, which has counted Kevin Costner and Chuck star Zachary Levi among its residents, is currently more than $880,000, according to Zillow.
During its 2015 campaign, the word ‘save’ was spelled out from sandbags on the hillside, although NVH disavowed any responsibility
Ventura Land Trust executive director Melissa Baffa said the resistance is because ‘people are afraid of change
During its 2015 campaign, the word ‘save’ was spelled out from sandbags on the hillside, although the group disavowed any responsibility.
The clash bears similarities to the outraged sparked in nearby Montecito when millionaires in the exclusive town blocked a public trail to a popular hot spring with huge boulders.
Residents of Montecito received angry letters from Santa Barbara County after they passive aggressively placed boulders along the roads outside their mansions.
The homeowners were trying to ward off visitors of the stunning trail nearby their homes that leads to hidden-gem hot springs who had been parking on their street.
‘People are always afraid of change, because you don’t know what’s coming, and I feel like it’s a very human quality to imagine worst-case scenarios, and to let your brain kind of run away with those,’ Ventura Land Trust executive director Melissa Baffa said.
‘From an empathy standpoint, I can understand absolutely how it can be scary to think of strangers on land right next door to your house. The fact is, though, that people have been trespassing on the Mariano Rancho land for generations.’
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