Ojai : County Seeks Plans for Dennison Park

Dennison Park near Ojai will remain closed while county officials decide how to develop the rustic campground so more people will use it.

The Ventura County Parks Division closed the 34-acre park on Labor Day after the operators, Larry and Carolie Jensen of Ojai, declined to renew their two-year lease.

“It was a mutual decision,” Carolie Jensen said. “We want them to put it out to bid for a long-term lease. It’s hard to get funding with a short-term lease. The banks just laugh.”

Andy Oshita, county parks manager, said officials are seeking someone who will invest in the park and will request 30-year proposals.

“It’s not worth keeping it open the way it is now,” he said. “There’s no level sites for RVs and nothing to keep the kids busy.”

The once popular park at the summit of Dennison Grade five miles east of Ojai is bisected by California 150, which, along with a limited water supply, has hindered development of its eastern portion.

The western half has 31 campsites, 20 picnic sites, group barbecue areas, a playground and a caretaker’s residence.

In 1987, the county awarded $2,000 in prizes to students from three Southern California universities who drew plans for retreat centers, amphitheaters and other improvements. Oshita said some of those suggestions will go into the new plan.

Closed for four years, the park reopened in May, 1989, after the Jensens and former Ojai City Councilman Frank McDevitt spent considerable time rehabilitating the well and grounds.

The park is named after Henry J. Dennison, the first public schoolteacher in Ojai Valley, whose four sons donated part of their large cattle ranch to the county in 1924 on condition that it remain a public park.