CHANNEL ISLANDS HARBOR : Condominiums OKd on County Acreage

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal to build 140 condominiums on waterfront land at the county-owned Channel Islands Harbor.

The $36.5-million project will be built near Peninsula Road on the five-acre site of a parking lot and private tennis courts. It was proposed by Anacapa Ventures, which owns the adjacent Anacapa Isle Apartments.

“This is truly a public-private venture that makes money for the public,” said Supervisor John K. Flynn, whose district includes the harbor.

As landowner, the county expects to receive a 10% commission on the sale of each condominium, totaling more than $3.6 million for the entire project. In addition, the county will collect $268,000 in property rental fees from condominium owners.

Beginning five years after the project is built, the county is also expected to collect about $100,000 annually from transfer fees charged during the sale of condominiums.

The development will be the first condominium project on the harbor’s county-owned land. The county collects more than $6 million annually from marina slip fees, taxes on shopkeepers and rental fees for privately owned apartment units at the harbor, according to county officials.

“I think it is a wonderful project that is going to benefit the county and the citizens and everyone,” county Chief Administrator Richard Wittenberg said.