Ojai : Builder Withdraws Subdivision Plan

A developer who offered to donate an 11-acre park to the city of Ojai withdrew his subdivision proposal Friday.

However, in his letter to city planners, developer Howard M. Palmer of Anaheim said he intends to resubmit a proposal to create the 26-lot subdivision next to Nordhoff High School.

“We are not done yet,” said Palmer’s project manager, David Armanetti. “The intent is to throw something back at them in the next two months that will try to mitigate the traffic impacts.”

The Ojai Planning Commission was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the project Wednesday, but that will no longer be necessary, Planning Director William Prince said. “The issue is moot until he decides to resubmit,” Prince said.

Palmer withdrew his application because it could not be approved within a one-year limit required by state law, Prince said.

After filing his proposal last April, Palmer sought to offset the tract’s environmental impact by offering to donate parkland to the city and to help finance a community center or public pool.

The City Council and Planning Commission gave a cool reception to the park offer and told Palmer that he would still have to undertake a full environmental report. Armanetti said the report could cost Palmer between $50,000 and $80,000.