Panel Formed to Review Oxnard Growth Plan

A divided Oxnard City Council tentatively approved a proposal Tuesday to form a committee of residents and council members to review the city’s new General Plan, which one councilwoman described as “very pro-growth.”

At the request of Councilwoman Dorothy Maron, who said the General Plan failed to address her concerns about traffic, housing, and “high-risk” industrial companies, the council voted 3-2 to have city staff draft a report to form the committee.

Maron suggested that the committee include the council and five residents, one resident chosen by each council member.

“We are the policy-makers and if we don’t do it who will?” Maron asked.

Councilwomen Geraldine (Gerry) Furr and Ann Johs supported Maron’s recommendation.

The proposal, however, was adamantly opposed by Mayor Nao Takasugi and Councilman Manuel Lopez, who said such a committee would only replicate the review process of the Planning Commission and the City Council.

“I think that forming another committee is just another overlay that is unnecessary,” Takasugi said.

Lopez agreed, adding: “We should be discussing this, not delegating to another committee.”

The General Plan, now being studied by the Planning Commission, is set for council review and approval next month. The three-inch thick document guides the city’s future residential, commercial and industrial development.

In 1986, the council formed the General Plan Advisory Committee, a 22-member group of residents, city officials and other community representatives who were charged with making suggestions and recommendations about the General Plan.

The committee reviewed the plan during 33 meetings over a 2 1/2-year period, according to Community Development Director Richard Maggio. After the committee completed its review of the General Plan in March, 1989, the Planning Commission began its review in June, 1989, he said.

Maron, however, said the committee did not thoroughly address ways to regulate or limit traffic levels, residential growth and “high-risk” industrial companies, such as ammonia plants. Maron said she would like the proposed committee of council members and residents to review the issues before the General Plan comes before the City Council for final approval.

In an interview after the meeting, she said the General Plan includes a formula to balance the number of jobs in the city with the number of housing units. She said the jobs-housing ratio “makes the General Plan very pro-growth.”

As now written, the plan allows for an increase of 13,464 residential units, or about 448 units per year, until the year 2020. The added units can accommodate 40,917 new residents, according to the document. From 1980 to 1987, Oxnard--with an incorporated area of about 24 square miles--experienced a growth of 3,122 residential units or about 446 units per year, according to city officials.

Earlier in the meeting, Jean Harris, a representative of the Citizens to Protect Oxnard, a grass-roots, slow-growth residents’ group, said her organization supports placing an annual cap on residential growth in the city.

She said the group also wants the General Plan to have a stronger emphasis on preserving more land for schools and parks.