LAKE CASITAS : Water Board Studies Motel Proposal

A proposal to build a motel with a restaurant and miniature golf course at pristine Lake Casitas is under consideration by the water board that operates and maintains the facility.

A study of a hotel and possibly a conference center as a new source of revenue has been recommended by John Johnson, Casitas Municipal Water District general manager.

Reaction to the proposed study was swift.

“They’re just begging for trouble,” said Russ Baggerly of Meiners Oaks, a board member of the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County. “There’s no way they can do that.”

“Casitas might have had a chance to think about a project like that five years ago, but in five years quite a few planning policies have made it too late,” he said.

Baggerly said the hotel would run afoul of a current ban on projects that increase traffic on heavily traveled California 33 through Casitas Springs, and new air quality requirements in the Ojai Valley.

Ojai’s city planning director, William Prince, also questioned whether the district could legally develop a resort.

Prince said it seems the county’s policy on banning projects increasing traffic on California 33 would certainly apply.

The water district, which will discuss the matter at a Wednesday meeting, has been concerned about mounting deficits run up by its recreation arm, mainly due to a 20-year low in the level of Lake Casitas. Recreational use of the area has plummetted as a result, officials said.

In a memo to the board, Johnson reported that operation of the lake’s recreation area has run at a deficit of about $100,000 in each of the past five years.

That deficit will have tripled to $300,000 by July 1, according to the memo. District staff has looked at reducing expenses and cutting part-time help at the lake, Johnson said.

The plan envisions building a moneymaking operation at the lake. Along with the hotel, a game room is being considered as is the possibility of sports that involve contact with the water in the lake, Johnson said.

Swimming has been prohibited since the reservoir was built by the Bureau of Reclamation in the 1950s as a source of potable water for Ojai Valley and western portions of the city of Ventura .