VENTURA : Firm to Ask Council to Reconsider Hotel

An attorney for Karcher-Barry Enterprises, whose 150-room hotel project was rejected by the Ventura City Council, said Tuesday the development group plans to again submit the project for city approval.

“We were very disappointed with the council’s decision, and, at this point, refiling seems the most likely option,” said Allen F. Camp, the developer’s attorney.

On Monday, the council turned down the project, after its members argued that a large hotel would be inappropriate while Ventura struggles with a water-shortage emergency. Council members also said the city should hold out for a better project.

“I think this is an extremely sensitive site, and we have to be very careful with what goes in there,” said Councilwoman Cathy Bean.

Karcher-Barry had proposed building the hotel next to the North Bank Plaza development, just west of the Ventura Freeway, near the Ventura Harbor.

After appeals from Camp and Karl Karcher, who owns the Carl’s Jr. fast-food restaurant chain and is a partner in the development firm, the council voted to follow the recommendation of its planning staff and turn down the project. Councilman Jim Monahan cast the only vote in favor of the development.

After the denial, Camp and Karcher stepped up to the speakers’ microphone and blasted the council’s decision.

“I feel there’s a changing political wind in the council,” Camp said, referring to the January election that swept three slow-growth councilmen into office. “My client has been a victim of these changes.”

“I feel like a football that just got kicked around,” added Karcher, featured in Carl’s Jr. television commercials.

Councilman John McWherter fired back: “In my 17 years as a city councilman, this is the first time I’ve been rebutted after a vote.”