Santa Rosa Valley: Can It Retain Elitist Air?

These days, cement-mixers barrel down 2-lane roads in the Santa Rosa Valley almost as frequently as the flatbeds that for years have carted hay to the area’s horse set.

The trucks are not the only signs of transition in this 24-square-mile valley wedged between Moorpark and Thousand Oaks and isolated from the rest of Los Angeles County by a series of hills.

Where avocado and citrus groves recently stood, wooden skeletons of half-built homes sprout. They are a far cry from garden-variety condos or tracts, however; these are custom homes built on minimum 1-acre lots where “absolute low-end” means $450,000 and 2.5-acre spreads with pools can top $1 million, according to Santa Rosa Valley real estate agent Jack Chiurazzi.

Most Santa Rosa Valley residents don’t mind that their property values are growing faster than a crop of lettuce after a spring rain.

From their ridgeline homes, they have watched Moorpark, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley gobble up land and disgorge suburban sprawl. And since those cities have now slapped limitations on future growth, they worry about the builders who are turning a hungry eye to their hidden valley.

‘Village’ Theme

The project that has valley residents most concerned is a proposal by the family of actor Joel McCrea to build a 250-unit housing development, a small commercial center with a “village” theme and a tourist trolley line that would close a portion of Moorpark Road.

The McCreas’ property lies just inside the city boundaries of Thousand Oaks, and the project would adjoin homes in the Santa Rosa Valley.

The trolley would require the closing of Moorpark Road at the Norwegian Grade, an incline reportedly named after the Norwegian farmers who settled there last century that is the main thoroughfare for Santa Rosa residents traveling to Thousand Oaks to work or shop. (There is not so much as a convenience store or coffee shop in the exclusively residential Santa Rosa Valley).

“The Conejo Valley is 7 minutes away from us. If they close it, it will take us another 10 minutes to get to Simi or Moorpark,” said Fred Meyers, head of the Santa Rosa Homeowners Assn. and leader of the opposition to closing Moorpark Road.

Meyers has enlisted neighbors to write letters to Conejo Valley merchants warning that they will lose business if Santa Rosa residents are denied access to the grade.

Ventura County Supervisor James R. Dougherty, who represents the Santa Rosa Valley, also opposes the proposal.

“It would put a great burden on people for health and safety, hospitals, commutes to work or grocery stores,” said Dougherty aide Brian Miller, who noted that the longer drives would add to air pollution.

However, Peter McCrea, who is handling the development for the family, says closure of the road at the Norwegian Grade might be a boon for local residents. “It’s a very dangerous road,” he said.

He also said inconvenience would be minimal. “Depending on where you’re going,” he said, “it will be a 2 1/2-minute to a 5-minute detour.”

Larry Marquart, Thousand Oaks senior planner, said the city is conducting an environmental impact report to study the proposal and will hold public hearings in several months to collect comments from local residents.

Meanwhile, Santa Rosa’s 1,078 residents are girding for their own environmental impact report, one that will address the valley’s future and decide development patterns for years to come.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors expanded a study this week that will look at rezoning parts of the valley to allow for a greater concentration of houses.

Already in the works are proposals that could boost population in the Santa Rosa Valley by 25% by allowing some property owners to build one house per acre. Zoning in many parts of the valley is more restrictive, and many farmers cannot build more than one house per 10 acres or one house per 40 acres.

Dougherty said the proposals do not violate county guidelines regarding preservation of open space because the Santa Rosa Valley is already a checkerboard of small farms and 1-acre homes. Although the county prefers that growth take place within cities, it has no plans to allow the valley to be annexed to either Moorpark or Thousand Oaks, Dougherty said.

It appears that there is little opposition to increasing the density of homes in the valley.

“This is the lesser of two evils,” Meyers said, adding that the homeowners’ association supports one-house, 1-acre zoning.

“Even though I’d prefer the farmlands, my philosophy is that if it gets to 1-acre custom homes, it’s going to stay that way. If you leave the land as agricultural fields, the cities can annex it and develop housing tracts.”

The problem that has arisen over the years is that luxury custom homes have sprung up around the farms that remain. This has caused friction between farmers trying to reap profits on their plots and residential neighbors who do not like agricultural smells, spraying of pesticides and equipment noise.

“We’ve had some complaints,” Miller said.

In the last year, a few farmers have joined forces and asked that the county rezone their properties so they too can build one house per acre. They have hired McClennan Engineers of Ventura to conduct an environmental impact report that should be completed by the end of February. Public hearings are scheduled for March, and the matter will go before the Ventura County Planning Commission, then the Board of Supervisors, next summer.

The plight of the farmers may be summed up by Santa Rosa Valley resident Betty Staben, who has raised avocados and citrus on a 35-acre ranch for 40 years:

“Farming is our life. I was born on a farm, and so was my husband. But now we have houses on three sides of us, and you can’t continue to farm with people all around you. I feel we should be able to do the same thing with our property as the neighbors have done.”

Staben said two of her four sons would like to build homes on her land. Zoning law permits only one house on the 35-acre parcel, and that is the Staben home.

“I feel it’s unfair,” Staben said. “I was here first, and I was happy farming for 30 years. Now we’re getting penalized because we wanted to stay in agriculture.”

Dougherty agreed that the Stabens’ situation contains “an element of unfairness.”

The problem arose 12 years ago, when many of the area’s farmers, strapped by rising taxes, joined the state agricultural preserve program, which gave them a break on taxes but restricted the land to agricultural uses for at least 10 years.

When Ventura County rezoned the Santa Rosa Valley in 1976, it retained the agricultural preserve lands as open space but rezoned many surrounding lots for homes. Since then, many property owners have erected architectural marvels of 7,000 square feet or more on their 1-acre parcels.

They range from Santa Fe-style adobes to Tudor palaces to Spanish ranchos. Many have long driveways, stone statues of deer and elves poised on manicured lawns, wrought-iron gates and guest houses. Some homes straddle mountain bluffs with stunning views and feature outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts and stables.

Meanwhile, many of the farmers have pulled out of the state preserve program and now want the option to build just like their neighbors.

That is what prompted Dougherty to propose reconsidering the future of the valley through an environmental impact report.

‘Time to Be Realistic’

“It’s time that we took another look at the Santa Rosa Valley to see if we want to continue those policies or change them. It’s really difficult to keep the agricultural element alive there, and maybe it’s time to be realistic about it.”

Dougherty said that he wants to preserve the area’s rural character and that the county must weigh development carefully to ensure that additional residents do not tip the area’s delicate balance of open space and ranch-style homes.

The environmental impact report will look at the effects of growth on schools, fire and police protection, sewers, water, air pollution and traffic.

Dougherty said he is especially concerned that development might necessitate widening the area’s main artery, Santa Rosa Road, a move he calls unwise.

“If you widen that road, you’ve destroyed the community, because you’ve created a thoroughfare. It would make it too urban. People would use it as an alternate to the freeway.”

Even if the Santa Rosa Valley is eventually rezoned to allow 1-acre homes, Dougherty said, he doesn’t anticipate a dramatic change in the quality of life in the pastoral valley whose large, quirky homes evoke a rural Beverly Hills.

“Over my dead body are you going to see condos out there,” he said.