SANTA PAULA : Harbor Expansion Support Rejected
The Santa Paula City Council has rejected a request by Oxnard Harbor District trustees to support their bid to extend boundaries countywide, but council members also took no position on a rival proposal.
The council, meeting Monday, declined to endorse a separate proposal to reduce district boundaries to the cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme, which is supported by those cities.
The tug-of-war over the future of the district, which controls lucrative operations of the Port of Hueneme, should conclude later this month, when the Local Agency Formation Commission will decide the dispute.
Officials in Oxnard and Port Hueneme have argued that trustees have failed to recognize how the port affects traffic and congestion in the two communities. Trustees have campaigned for expansion by emphasizing the countywide impact of port operations, which they predict will grow during this decade.
The district now includes Oxnard, the cities of Port Hueneme and Camarillo and parts of Thousand Oaks and unincorporated county areas.
The trustees’ expansion proposal has been endorsed by Camarillo. Both Ojai and Simi Valley have supported the plan to reduce the port boundaries.
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