OJAI : Builders Try to Swap Pool for Permit

Two home builders have offered to donate an Olympic-size swimming pool to the city of Ojai in return for permission to split 14 acres into four home lots.

Lot splits are banned throughout the Ojai Valley if they will increase traffic on heavily congested California 33, unless the developer can offset the impact of more vehicles.

Ojai contractors James Miller and James Sandefer want to build four houses on their property northeast of Quail Oaks Drive and Foothill Road after a valleywide moratorium on water hookups is lifted. They said a pool would be more valuable than if they were to contribute to a ride-share program or pay for street repairs.

Miller and Sandefer said they think that a new swimming pool would keep people in town instead of at the beach.

The Ojai Planning Commission will consider the proposal at 7:30 tonight in City Hall. No decision will be made until it is submitted as a formal application.

“If we get some positive response, we’ll conduct a study of all the aspects,” Miller said.

“I see a real need for a public pool in Ojai,” said Miller, who has four boys. “My wife hates the beach, but she takes the kids there all the time in the summer.”

Of 250 residents who responded to a city survey last year, 186 said they believe that Ojai needs a year-round community pool.

Despite many community attempts to build a public pool in Ojai or Oak View, the outdoor pool at Nordhoff High School is the only one in the Ojai Valley.