OJAI VALLEY : Revision of County Zoning Plan Slated

The County Board of Supervisors is expected to begin an 18-month project Tuesday to revise the master zoning plan for all unincorporated areas of the Ojai Valley.

“We actually go lot by lot in the final analysis,” said Steve Chase, administrative assistant to Supervisor Susan K. Lacey.

The Ojai Valley Area Plan was adopted 10 years ago as a component of the county’s general land use plan.

The update is needed to set zoning and building permit policies through the turn of the century.

Mounting concerns over water availability, traffic and smog could lead to major policy changes, such as downzoning commercial and residential land to lower density use, Chase said.

“We want people to start being aware of it so they won’t get caught in the pipeline,” he said of those who plan to buy or develop land in the valley.

County planners will start the process by examining present land uses.

In October, Lacey and Supervisor Maggie Erickson will appoint a nine-member citizens advisory committee to review the staff report and develop new community goals, objectives and land-use alternatives.

The five-member Ventura River Valley Municipal Advisory Council will hold the committee meetings in Oak View.

The nine-member committee will be composed of five members of the Ventura River Valley Municipal Advisory Council, a sixth member appointed by Lacey to represent the Upper Ojai Valley to Koenigstein Road, and three members appointed by Erickson to represent the city of Ojai and the east end of the valley.

The county supervisors are tentatively set to adopt the final plan in December, 1991.