OJAI : 2 Builders Told to Help Pay for Signal

Developers proposing to build office and warehouse complexes in Ojai’s industrial park will get a green light as long as they help pay for a traffic signal on Ojai Avenue, planning officials say.

However, a third proposal the Planning Commission will review Wednesday appears to be stalled by the water shortage.

Developer Dana D. Copp of Ojai plans to build a mock-adobe office and warehouse building of 17,220 square feet for about 13 tenants on a 1.2-acre lot.

“We have made an effort to create a distinctly rural, traditional styling appropriate to Ojai,” Copp said of the design that features French doors leading to landscaped courtyards.

Joseph L. Priske and Steven C. Gerjets of Priske Development Inc. in Ventura propose a 16,379-square-foot office and industrial building on a 1.4-acre lot.

Because each project is expected to add 100 more daily vehicle trips along Bryant Street, city planners are recommending that the developers be required to pay an unspecified share of the cost to install a traffic signal at Bryant Street and Ojai Avenue.

The Ojai Valley Racquet Club is seeking the panel’s opinion on whether it should bother filing an application to build a 5,000-square-foot office building on its 10.5-acre lot at the south end of Fox Street.

A special zoning permit would be needed to allow office use on that lot, Assistant Planner Marilyn Grauel reported in her staff recommendation. But, she added, “the availability of water service is doubtful for some time in the future.”

The other two projects obtained water service letters from Southern California Water Co., but the racquet club will have to wait until the Casitas Municipal Water District lifts its one-year moratorium on new service connections.