OJAI : Project Foes Oppose Parkland Donation
Ojai residents have scorned a developer’s offer to donate a $500,000 chunk of land to the city or a nature conservancy, calling it a bribe and a Trojan horse.
About 80 people attended a town forum Monday that Anaheim developer Howard M. Palmer sponsored to pitch a proposal he has submitted to the city.
Palmer, who lost a 10-year battle with the city to build a shopping center next to Nordhoff High School, now wants to create a 26-lot subdivision on the 30-acre parcel, donate about 12 acres of the parcel for a park and wetland habitat, and help finance a recreation center, auditorium or child-care center at the site.
“I’m still knocking my head against the door,” Palmer said after the audience urged him to drop the plan, although he said it could offset traffic and other impacts from the subdivision along California 33.
Stan Greene, president of Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, accused Palmer of bribing the community to support the subdivision.
John Christianson of the Besant Meadow Preservation Group called the offer “an Ojai Trojan horse.” He asked Palmer to “make a real gift” by donating the entire 30 acres for open space.
City Councilman Joe DeVito said the city appreciates Palmer’s proposal but will have to look closely at the environmental effects before making a decision.
The Ojai Planning Commission is scheduled to review the plan Dec. 19.
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