If you have driven past the corner of El Roblar Drive and Highway 33 this year and wondered why a park announced last December still looks like an empty lot, the answer is on the park's donation page. The money raised so far is paying for work underground and under pavement. The parts a neighbor would recognize as a park, like shade trees, a playground and a restroom, are in the funding tiers that are still open.
That changes how to read the corner. A quiet lot at 312 E. El Roblar Drive doesn't mean the project has stalled. The first round of work at a park like this is the kind that gets buried.
A Corner the County Bought and Then Left Empty
The parcel covers 2.04 acres where El Roblar meets Highway 33, a state-designated scenic highway. It once held a car wash and the home next to it. Ventura County bought the property after the former owners filed a lawsuit over groundwater, and the Ojai Valley News reported that the site was cleaned up at that time. The park group's concept proposal says the property sat abandoned after the County took ownership, with the car wash and house standing empty until the park effort had them demolished.
The same 2022 proposal makes the case for putting a park there. It notes that Meiners Oaks has a hardware store, restaurants, a bookstore, a meat market and a public library, but no public park. The one play area in town, at the elementary school, is fenced and closed when school is out. Paula Power, a retired National Park Service biologist who is now president of Meiners Oaks Parks, put it more plainly to the Ojai Valley News:
"Meiners Oaks doesn't have a little park."
She told the paper the idea grew out of conversations with neighbors and with Supervisor Matt LaVere. In the same story, a representative of the supervisor said the County wanted a nonprofit partner to run the site because it didn't have the capacity to operate another park. That arrangement shaped everything that followed. Neighbors would raise the money and do much of the work.
Four Years of Approvals Before Construction Could Start
From the outside, the timeline looks slow. Each step, though, cleared the way for the next one.
- Fall 2021. Neighbors form Meiners Oaks Parks as a grassroots 501(c)(3).
- January 25, 2022. The group publishes its concept proposal for the El Roblar parcel.
- November 28, 2023. Assemblymember Steve Bennett announces $500,000 from the state budget, secured with Senator Monique Limón.
- May 14, 2024. The Board of Supervisors takes up an item to accept the $500,000 State Parks grant and authorize a planning agreement with Meiners Oaks Parks.
- September 17, 2025. The County posts a CEQA notice of exemption describing the work. It covers removing the slabs and car wash infrastructure, light grading, curb and sidewalk, a small parking lot, play equipment, benches, a picnic area and landscaping.
- October 2025. Two grants come in. One is a $42,000 Arts in California Parks award, and the other is $9,000 from the Ojai Women's Fund.
- December 20, 2025. The group announces "We got the lease!" and holds a bird-themed construction kickoff on site, with an owl box, a raptor perch and bird-feeder crafts for kids.
- August 15, September 12 and October 10, 2026. Volunteers hold site-prep days to haul trimmings, pick up trash, rake, mulch and get the lot ready for a fence.
The group's own timeline lists construction as starting in January 2026 and ending "TBD." It still shows final planning documents and fundraising as ongoing. No opening date has been set. How fast the corner changes from here depends on the funding tiers below.
What $650,000 Buys, and What Comes Next
The donation page is unusually specific about what each level of funding pays for. It sets a goal of $1.25 million for planning and construction and lists four markers on the way.
| Funding marker | What it pays for, per Meiners Oaks Parks | Status on the donation page |
|---|---|---|
| $650,000 | Remove concrete slab, install parking lot and sidewalk, trench and install electric, irrigation and sewer line | "We've gotten this already!" |
| $760,000 | Trees, walkways and children's playground | Open |
| $1,161,000 | Trellis, restroom, drinking fountain and landscaping plants | Open |
| $1,250,000 | Bicycle amenities, water guzzler, benches, chairs, signage and "big kids explore features" | Open |
Read from the top down, the table explains the corner. Everything in the funded tier either ends up underground, like the electric, irrigation and sewer lines, or gets covered over, like the slab and the parking lot. When that work is done, the lot will look graded and plumbed. It won't look like a park yet.
The next marker is $110,000 higher, and it pays for the things a family would notice: trees, walkways and a playground. The restroom and drinking fountain come in the tier after that, which is the biggest jump on the page. The concept plan calls for a Portland Loo there. The benches, bike parking and signage in the last tier are what would make it a place people stay for an afternoon.
The group's FAQ adds more detail on the finished park. It describes a quarter-mile walking path, a pergola, natural play structures and space for unstructured play. The concept plan adds a bandstand, a game table, and pollinator and meditation gardens planted with low-water native trees and shrubs for shade and habitat. The group also says the park differs from the nearby Ojai Meadows Preserve, which exists to protect open space, because this park is meant for spontaneous play.
Smaller Grants Are Paying for the First Things You'll See
Two smaller grants sit outside the big construction tiers, and they explain what is likely to show up on the site first.
The $9,000 Ojai Women's Fund grant is for trees, nursery plants and fencing. That lines up with the October 10 workday, which the Ojai Valley News calendar listing described as getting the site ready "to build a fence."
The $42,000 Arts in California Parks grant pays for something no construction budget would cover. The plan includes a 500-foot mural painted by Ojai Valley schoolchildren and a competition for one to three sculptures. When the Ojai Valley News covered the December kickoff, it quoted the group's call for "one to three sculptural artwork(s) that complement the Park's overall theme of art, nature, and community," and noted that the park is funded by grants and ongoing fundraising.
So the art and plantings may arrive before the playground does. A long mural painted by local kids along a fenced lot is a fair sign that the paid-for groundwork is finished and the visible stage has started.
How Neighbors Can Help Now
The October 17 Ojai Day booth was the group's last posted event. They set up downtown that day to explain the project, sign up neighbors for the mailing list and hand out homemade jam. The updates page doesn't list anything after that yet, so the mailing list is the best way to hear about the next workday.
The group's ways-to-help page lists several options.
- Join the mailing list or write to [email protected].
- Volunteer for construction, park management, cleaning, landscaping or fundraising, the roles listed in the group's timeline.
- Give cash, stock, planned gifts, donor-advised fund grants or multi-year pledges. Naming opportunities are available, and mail goes to PO Box 1281, Ojai, CA 93024.
- Ask an employer whether it belongs to 1% for the Planet. Meiners Oaks Parks is an Environmental Partner in that network, which makes it eligible for funding from member businesses.
The group's board includes Paula Power as president, Betsy George as treasurer and Jo Carol Snyder as secretary, with Dee Bennett, Derek Poultney, Sarah Carter and Rosalie Bossler as directors.
If you want to put in outdoor work before the next park workday, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy has two events across the valley in November. A grand-opening plant sale at its expanded nursery on Ojai Meadows Preserve is set for Saturday, November 7, and a Community Restoration Day is set for Saturday, November 21, according to the OVLC events calendar. For more on the neighborhood around the park, see our Meiners Oaks neighborhood page.
A new park changes how a block feels long before it opens, and owners near El Roblar may want to know how this one fits into their plans. Ceseña Luxury Properties keeps track of the projects shaping the west end of the Ojai Valley. If you'd like to talk through what the park means for your street, schedule your consultation.
