Unwelcome Neighbor : Homeless: The founder of the county’s largest shelter seems as determined to move the facility to La Colonia as residents are to keep it out.

The founder of Ventura County’s largest homeless shelter said he will pursue plans to relocate Zoe Christian Center in La Colonia despite vigorous protests from residents of Oxnard’s poorest neighborhood.

The Rev. Fred Judy said he is negotiating with owners of two pieces of property in the barrio to see which he can get for the best price. He said he hopes to purchase one of the lots by Sept. 2--the deadline for using a $127,000 state grant earmarked for acquiring new land.

“We’re not going to stop our progress in getting a site for people,” Judy said. “We’re still negotiating on a couple of sites out there, and we’re going to continue to do so.”

Judy refused to specify which pieces of property he is considering, saying he does not want to jeopardize a sale. He said, however, that the sites are among eight identified in a consultant’s study commissioned this year by the Oxnard City Council.

“This thing with Colonia could take a year,” Judy said. “We can’t wait that long.”

La Colonia resident Carlos Aguilera said the community would continue to protest the shelter and might appeal to the City Council for support.

“I’m surprised that they, at this particular time, knowing the opposition, would not take into consideration the feelings of longtime residents of La Colonia,” Aguilera said of Zoe leaders.

About 250 La Colonia residents told the City Council on Tuesday that they did not want the shelter at any of four possible sites in their neighborhood. They insisted that the area already is overcrowded and questioned why they were not involved in the planning process. They said they were afraid that the shelter might depress home prices and worried that crime would increase.

Judy downplayed residents’ concerns. He said the facility does not allow drugs or alcohol and has not had problems with crime. And he scoffed at the idea that a shelter in La Colonia could decrease property values.

“How could property values go down in Colonia?” Judy said. “If anything, a new facility would raise values.”

In addition, Judy said, people from nearby La Colonia come to the shelter for food, clothing and counseling. In the last three months, the shelter, which houses 150, has welcomed two large families from La Colonia, Judy said.

Zoe resident Maria Contreras, 39, said she was saddened by the La Colonia residents’ reactions.

Contreras sought refuge at Zoe eight months ago. She had been sharing a one-bedroom house with 14 others when the family that owned the residence kicked her out, along with her husband and five children.

Apolonia Ortiz, who works at Zoe and lives in La Colonia, said she is angry about the views expressed by neighborhood residents.

“If we move over there, they’re going to get a lot of help,” said Ortiz, who lived in Zoe for eight months in 1987.

Although he, too, is angry about the residents’ objections, Judy said he believes that the La Colonia residents eventually will accept the shelter.

“As we go along, a lot of people are going to lose their steam and get the picture,” Judy said.

But Judy is not taking any chances. He is circulating a petition in La Colonia asking residents to support the shelter in their neighborhood. And he is taking snapshots of La Colonia residents who come to the shelter to get baskets of food that are given away each week.

Judy said he does not think that there is much the City Council can do to stop the shelter once he buys the land.

“If we purchase the property, the City Council will have difficulty saying no,” Judy said. “It was their study, they accepted the report and they said it was OK.”

The shelter’s troubles began after Fire Department officials did a study in 1986 showing that hazardous materials were stored at several businesses within a half-mile radius of the shelter, city officials said.

The shelter has been allowed to continue operations at the Rose Avenue site temporarily, but the city has refused to renew its operating permit.

After shelter leaders looked unsuccessfully for years for a new site, the council hired a consultant this year to find potential sites for Zoe. Four of the sites are in La Colonia: 6.5 acres at Rose Avenue and Colonia Road, five acres at Ramona School, 10 acres at 3rd Street and Juanita Avenue, and 2.5 acres at 125 Harrison Ave. Another four sites are spread across Oxnard.

Zoe, a private, nonprofit organization, is not required to purchase any of the sites identified by the city consultant or to ask for Oxnard’s permission before buying land.

But it must present its development plans to the city Planning Commission to receive a special-use permit. Public hearings on the plans would be held after the project goes to the commission. If anyone--including a City Council member--were to object to the commission’s decision, it could be appealed to the City Council.

Councilman Michael Plisky said he is against putting Zoe in La Colonia.

“I just think it’s going to be very difficult to approve one of those two sites,” Plisky said. “But we are going to have to wait and see.”

Council members Dorothy Maron and Manuel Lopez said they would consider voting to renew the permit for Zoe’s current site if there were some way of removing the toxic-materials threat. Councilwoman Geraldine Furr could not be reached for comment, and Mayor Nao Takasugi said he needed more information before he could comment.

Council members have directed city housing officials to give them a report detailing the problems with Zoe’s Rose Avenue facility. The report will also outline how much money an environmental assessment of the Rose Avenue property would cost.

But the study is not expected to be completed until Sept. 10--eight days after Zoe’s funding deadline has passed. And that is not soon enough for Zoe, Judy said.

“They can play their political games all they want to, but we’re going to pursue getting out of here,” he said.