VENTURA : Housing Plan at Risk Over Road Funding

The city of Ventura may have to scrap plans to build affordable housing in the city’s eastern end because funding for improvements to nearby roads is in jeopardy, officials said.

Councilman James Monahan recently asked his fellow council members to reconsider whether the city should go forward with the KNM Development Co. proposal to build 147 houses for first-time home buyers. The issue is expected to be voted on in January.

Planned improvements to the California 118 bridge over the Santa Clara River in Saticoy that would serve the development may be delayed because of funding shortfalls at Caltrans, Monahan said. If the bridge is not widened, cars from new houses in the area would increase existing traffic snarls in the heavily congested area, Monahan said.

“We have a housing shortage in our community for young people who cannot afford to buy a home,” Monahan said.

“But 118 is a major artery that serves the city, and there is already a big logjam there every day.”

The city now has a moratorium on new building because the statewide drought has limited the water supply. But KNM was exempted because of the city’s need for low-cost, single-family houses.