THE DROUGHT CONSERVATION : Law-Defying Permit Faces Council’s Appeal

The Ventura City Council set the stage Monday for a confrontation with its own Planning Commission by voting to reconsider a permit for a new bank that was granted in defiance of the city’s water conservation law.

The council voted 4 to 1 to appeal the commission’s decision, with Jim Monahan dissenting.

The new slow-growth City Council has been at odds with the Planning Commission--whose members were appointed by past Councils and are generally more sympathetic toward growth--since the council imposed a strict moratorium on all new water hookups last March.

Planning Commission members have complained repeatedly about the council’s failure to consult them on the water ordinance, and said the blanket moratorium on hookups left them without opportunity to influence city planning.

For their part, city officials said this week that they take exception to the commission’s challenge of the water ordinance.

“If they don’t like the law, approving this project is the wrong way of sending the message,” said Community Development Director Everett Millais, who wrote a memorandum to the City Council urging them to appeal the commission’s decision.

“It isn’t their prerogative to say if a law is good or bad,” said Councilman John McWherter. “They should stick to planning.”

On May 8, the Planning Commission tentatively approved a 13,332-square-foot Home Savings bank building to be located at Victoria Avenue and Moon Drive. The project involves replacing two existing buildings with a new one.

Supporters argued that the project would cut back water use beyond the 15% required in the city’s water conservation ordinance by calling for the installation of low-flow toilets and low-flow shower heads, as well as replacing current landscaping with plants that use less water.

But Millais said the project would result in an increase of plumbing fixtures from about six to 16. That would violate the water ordinance, which prohibits any increase in plumbing fixtures.

“Why are we supposed to deny a project just because it has more plumbing fixtures?” asked Commissioner Tim Downey. “It didn’t make sense to me, and that’s why I voted for it.”

He said the commission saw in the bank project “an opportunity to work around some of the strict guidelines established in the council’s water conservation ordinance.”

Public Works Department spokeswoman Carol Green said the reason the city banned increases in plumbing fixtures is to prevent the potential for more water use.

“If you have 10 bathrooms instead of one, obviously you are going to use more water,” she said.

Mayor Richard Francis said he believed the Planning Commission was acting out of frustration at being left out of the decision-making process during the adoption of the water ordinance, and he hoped that any disagreements could be worked out.

“I think they felt they were left with the dirty work of telling developers they can’t approve a project for something the council adopted without even consulting them. I understand their frustration.”