OAK VIEW : Comment Sought on Planned Restaurant
A controversial proposal to build a spaghetti house at the top of Arnaz Grade on California 33 in Oak View faces public scrutiny today from Ojai Valley residents concerned about increased traffic and air pollution.
The county Environmental Report Review Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposed family-style restaurant with an entrance on a high-accident section of California 33. The hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. in Room 344 of the county government’s Hall of Administration.
The committee postponed the hearing last week after finding that a draft environmental study failed to cite new restrictions on air pollution for new development in Ojai Valley. The valley has the most restrictive air-quality standards for new construction in Ventura County.
The Vince’s Spaghetti House Inc. proposal is the first development to run up against the tightened air-quality regulations that took effect Jan. 1.
But LeRoy Andrews, architect of the proposed spaghetti house, said his client John Cuccia and family, owners of the restaurant chain, should not have to meet the stricter standards because they filed their application last June before the new rules took effect.
“It’s totally unfair,” Andrews said Tuesday. He called the new hurdle “the standard bureaucratic mess.”
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