Re: your Jan. 22 article, “RiverPark seeking to be old-fashioned, innovative�:
How is it possible to build a whole community in a riverbed when those of us who live along Highway 150 cannot get the portion of the road adjacent to the creeks repaired? A large-scale development is going in while we cannot get established roads and structures put back to the way they were.
There have been so many delays in getting permits from the environmental agencies for this project. So far, only about four sites out of 15 needing repair have been issued permits. Each site needs to be individually permitted, even if it is only feet away from another site. The cost of these repairs has tripled as these agencies ask for more studies and more details. Meanwhile, the lives and livelihoods of people are being impacted.
The environmental agencies are so well insulated by the law that even pressure from local, state and federal representatives is ignored. Assemblywoman Audra Strickland’s office has been trying without success to set up a meeting with representatives of the environmental agencies and the community along Highway 150, but these agencies remain as elusive as the alleged trout in the stream they claim to protect.
I want to publicly challenge these agencies to cooperate with Assemblywoman Strickland’s office and come meet with the residents and business owners. Let them explain in person why fish take priority over people.
— Sue Paroski, Santa Paula
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