Panel Cites Traffic Effects in Farmland Rezoning Denial

In the aftermath of the defeat of a county tax increase for road improvements, the Ventura County Planning Commission denied a proposal Thursday that would have set the stage for a new development in the Santa Rosa Valley east of Camarillo.

Measure A, the proposed half-cent sales tax that was defeated Nov. 6 by a 2-1 margin, would have given funds to the county to improve Santa Rosa Road, a main east-west artery that connects Simi Valley and Moorpark to the Camarillo area.

The county’s General Plan prohibits development where roads are inadequate to handle an influx of new residents.

Nine agricultural land owners in the Santa Rosa Valley who have attempted for years to have their property zoned from open space to one-acre parcels were denied their request for a General Plan amendment, which would have changed 12 parcels to 278 additional parcels, adding about 900 people to the area if fully developed.

In a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Laura Newman and Mary Alice Henderson dissenting, commissioners said that while they understood the plight of the owners, they could not approve their request to change the county’s General Plan without first addressing traffic, sewer and educational effects.

The rezoning proposal will still be submitted to the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 4, said Stanley Cohen, attorney for the Caston Trust, which represents all the property owners who own a total of more than 330 acres.

Property owners told stories of keeping their land in agricultural use in the past, only to find that neighbors had received approval from the Board of Supervisors to develop adjacent property in the 1970s.

Carolynn B. Nicholson, who owns 57 acres, said her property is surrounded by one-acre zoning. “We’ve been bounced around by the county. . . . We entered into a land-use contract so that agriculture would be preserved, but that was not the direction that the Board of Supervisors took.”

Nicholson said the helicopter company that sprays her crops told her that it will no longer be able to spray because of the proximity of housing. “I cannot stay in agriculture,” she said.

Henderson, who attempted to change the land-use amendment from one acre to five acres and leave four of the parcels in a greenbelt to be approved by the county and Camarillo, said she could not accept the planning staff’s recommendation to deny the proposal.

“This is a true horror story. . . . I think we can try to appease both,” she said.

But commissioners also heard pleas from Camarillo officials that the land-use change could only bring more problems.

J. William Little, Camarillo’s city manager, said approval of the Caston Trust proposal, along with other developments in various planning stages, would add about 6,200 people to the area.

“That’s like building a city equivalent to the size of Ojai,” he said.