OXNARD : Squabbles Delay La Colonia Project

Oxnard’s City Council has postponed action on a 110-unit gated townhouse project planned for the blue-collar La Colonia neighborhood to iron out legal differences with the developer.

Council members told the developer, Standard Pacific Co. of Ventura, that the city wanted the project’s residents to sign a waiver giving up their right to protest the formation of an assessment district as a condition for moving in.

Developer representatives said they were willing to limit the residents’ right to protest but not to eliminate it. They said that requiring a complete waiver would make the project hard to sell.

Meanwhile, La Colonia community leaders spoke out against the project Tuesday on grounds that the developer had not set aside units for badly needed low-income housing and that the gate would segregate the project from the mostly Latino community.

Councilman Manuel Lopez said he was also concerned about the effects the project would have on Colonia Road, the neighborhood’s main commercial strip. The project calls for the closure of a railway pass connecting Colonia Road with Oxnard Boulevard.

Lopez said Colonia merchants were concerned about the effect this change would have on their businesses. He urged the developer to meet with Colonia residents before the council reconsiders it in two weeks.

Councilwoman Dorothy Maron also expressed concerns over developer plans to have residents walk up to 100 feet to deposit trash in bins. She asked the developer to consider installing cul-de-sacs to allow garbage trucks to pick up trash from near the residents’ front doors.

The project consists of clusters of townhouses in 22 buildings housing up to six three-bedroom units each. It will be on 10.75 acres on Colonia Road north of Marquita Street.

Each townhouse would cost $150,000 to $190,000, city officials said.