CAMARILLO : Panel Hears Critics of Proposed Mall

Camarillo planning commissioners listened to a third night of testimony Tuesday on a factory outlet mall, but said they will need at least one more meeting before making a recommendation on whether it should be built.

Critics of the mall staged another protest outside City Hall and nearly filled the 277-seat council chamber.

Proposed by Sammis Co. for 86.5 acres of farmland in east Camarillo, the Rancho Camarillo Plaza would feature factory outlet shops, specialty stores, a hotel and recreational facilities.

Opponents dominated the testimony Tuesday, just as they had three weeks earlier. Most asked commissioners to reject the Sammis Co. bid to rezone the agricultural land, saying the 927,700-square-foot shopping mall would end the area’s semi-rural atmosphere.

“Citizens don’t get together and incorporate a city to raise tax revenues but to bind together for the purpose of providing a certain quality of life,” said Hoyt Jones of Camarillo.

But others backed the center, saying that Rancho Camarillo Plaza would provide the city with needed revenues and spare residents from traveling to other Ventura County cities to shop.

Tom Coulter of Camarillo said he supports the project because “90% of my family’s spare time is spent traveling to Oxnard and the Conejo Valley for amenities.”

Wally Beck, Camarillo Chamber of Commerce past president, said a chamber task force had examined the need for the shopping center and gave the development qualified backing. But Beck emphasized that the mall is one of a number of proposed retail centers.

Although the chamber board unanimously supported a scaled-down project, Beck said chamber members who responded to a survey were divided on the project.

The Planning Commission scheduled a fourth meeting Tuesday to conclude its deliberations. The City Council plans to hold hearings on the issue Nov. 20 and Dec. 11 and 12.