SATICOY : Supervisors to Vote on New Area Plan

Saticoy, a tiny rural community southeast of the city of Ventura, would double in population, increase its industry and improve its roads under a plan that county supervisors will vote on today.

Called the Saticoy Area Plan, the document would open for development much of the 225-acre area in the unincorporated community of about 1,000 people. Fees assessed to developers would pay for improvements to area roads, sewer and water delivery systems, said Bruce Smith, supervisor in the county Planning Division.

“The area needs a reinfusion of money and upgrading of services,” Smith said. “If the county took a stance that allowed no further development, Saticoy would simply deteriorate over time.”

If approved, the area planwould update one that county supervisors created in 1967. Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the plan at 1:30 today at the county government center.

The county Planning Division developed the new plan in cooperation with the city of Ventura, which would ultimately like to annex the town, said Everett Millais, director of community development for the city. The city, which provides water to much of the Saticoy area, wants the county to guarantee that all new development is connected to a public system, Millais said.

That would prohibit a developer from building homes dependent on well water from the same ground water which the city of Ventura depends on for two-thirds of its supply. The state’s continuing drought has made ground water supplies dwindle.