Council Members Request Stand Against College

The time has come, fellow Venturans, to take a stand for the preservation of our city. In the November election you expressed a desire for controlled and managed growth. Your vote showed an overwhelming desire to slow development in Ventura. As we walked precincts, many of you voters told us you were in favor of a university in the county, but not at the Taylor Ranch site.

Unfortunately, the largest development push in the history of Ventura is now before us. The state wants to develop Taylor Ranch into a university that will eventually hold 15,000 full-time equivalency students, which translates into more than 20,000 students.

With these 20,000 students will come increased traffic and further degradation of air quality for the city of Ventura. The way you use land determines your air pollution, traffic and water needs. We cannot have it both ways. We need direction from you. Either you want a city with managed growth in order to sustain the quality of life or a university.

If we have a university, we will have to provide housing, not only for the students but for a large support group of administrators, teachers, clerical workers, maintenance workers, etc. The university will cause a housing crisis, which will transform the “Avenue area” and much of Ventura into student rentals and new housing developments.

In order to obtain the Taylor Ranch site, the state will use eminent domain to take land from owners who do not wish to sell. Ventura will become the city you voted overwhelmingly against last November.

Thousands of students will mandate importation of water. The cost of importation will be borne by Venturans, not the state.

The state is going to decide our fate in February. It wants to change our city forever! Nobody has asked us Venturans how we feel about the ultimatum recently delivered by CSU Chancellor W. Ann Reynolds: the university at Taylor Ranch or no university in Ventura County.

We are now asking you, if you are opposed to the Taylor Ranch site, please let us know. Other sites are available in Ventura County. Oxnard is eager to find a site, and Camarillo had sites turned down because of “no ocean view.”

If we can get an avalanche of cards to Chancellor Reynolds in two weeks, then we have a chance to save Ventura.

Please don’t delay, we need to hear from you now.

CATHY BEAN

GARY TUTTLE

Ventura

Bean and Tuttle are members of the Ventura City Council.