VENTURA : Denial on Condos to Be Reviewed

After meeting in a closed session Monday night, the City Council reportedly agreed to reconsider its denial of a three-unit condominium project proposed for a lot adjacent to the city’s best-known bed-and-breakfast inn in downtown Ventura.

The closed session was called by city attorney Peter Bulens after being advised by the developer that the city could be sued if his request for reconsideration was denied.

Mayor Richard Francis said an announcement about the city’s decision to reconsider will be made today, but a source said the council had agreed to the developer’s request for a new hearing.

The Darrick Martin Co., a development group, introduced plans to develop its property in 1988 but immediately came under fire from the owners of La Mer Bed and Breakfast Inn, who complained that the condo would dwarf and block the view from their 99-year-old Victorian house, a city landmark in the 400 block of Poli Street.

In an effort to address the criticism, the developers redesigned their project three times, slightly reducing its size from 6,300 square feet to 5,400 square feet. But despite the changes, the council still considered the project too bulky and incompatible with the neighborhood.

In July, the council voted to deny the developers a building permit because the proposed condominium, while meeting the neighborhood’s zoning requirements, was still twice as big as La Mer Inn.

In making his motion for denial, Councilman John McWherter said that the project also fell under the city’s moratorium on new water hookups.

Since then, developer Michael E. Wooten has asked the city to reconsider its decision because he believes the project is exempt from the moratorium and the council misunderstood its own staff report pointing out that the moratorium did not apply.

Community Development Director Everett Millais said Monday that while the council is free to turn down the project for being incompatible with the neighborhood, the developer is correct in arguing that the project appears to be exempt from the moratorium.

Under the city’s water rationing ordinance, projects scheduled to receive discretionary permits from the planning commission before Jan. 29 are exempt from the moratorium if the commission postponed its hearing on the project at the city’s request. Millais said the condominium was scheduled for a hearing last Jan. 23, but the city asked that the session be postponed until February after the planning staff inadvertently included inaccurate maps in the planning commissioners’ information package.

Wooten said that he is always willing to negotiate with the council, but he believes his proposed building is small enough to blend in with the neighborhood and should be approved.

“We feel the size of the project is both appropriate for the site and in keeping with the concept of providing quality housing options for the downtown area. It will be a significant upgrade for the existing properties in the neighborhood,” he said. But La Mer owner Gisela Baida disagreed.

“I don’t think the council should reconsider because he hasn’t paid any attention to the council’s directive to cut down the project’s size and bulk,” she said.