Ventura Council Votes to Begin Annexation of Cabrillo Village

The Ventura City Council voted Monday to begin the process of annexing Cabrillo Village, which could bring more police protection and lower water fees to the tightknit Latino community just outside east Ventura.

The annexation process, approved by a 6-1 council vote, will include public hearings so residents of the 153 houses and apartments in Cabrillo Village can air their opinions about the idea.

Councilman Gary Tuttle voted against the measure, saying there was not enough information in the staff report to explain why the annexation is recommended.

Everett Millais, director of community development, said the approval is a technicality to allow the discussion to continue. “Whether or not it’s annexed is going to be up to Cabrillo Village and to you as the council.”

Annexing Cabrillo Village would reduce confusion in providing police and fire protection to the neighborhood, and could lower the overall cost of living for its residents, city planner Ann Chaney said.

Residents’ tax bills are slightly higher inside the city than they are outside, but the annexed residents would not have to pay a 70% surcharge on city water fees levied on all customers living outside city limits.

The city already has annexed parcels of land on two sides of Cabrillo Village where private developers plan to build housing for low- and moderate-income families. The council began annexation of Cabrillo Village to avoid leaving the neighborhood as an island of unincorporated property surrounded city borders, Chaney said.

The Cabrillo Village Board of Governors probably will support the annexation, said Jose Martinez, the board’s treasurer. Board members hope annexation will bring increased police patrols and protection to the neighborhood, especially in light of a drive-by shooting that killed two young men last month, Martinez said.

Annexation to Ventura also would give the neighborhood more of an identity, he said. “It’ll be known--not like it’s stuck out here like a little town that nobody’s ever heard of,” Martinez said.

Martinez said it has been difficult to explain the annexation plan to the people of Cabrillo Village, some of whom are unschooled farm workers. But those who have heard of it want a better future for their children, which they believe annexation could bring, he said.

The board plans to devote its June meeting to explaining the annexation proposal to residents, he said.