MONTALVO : Annexation Vote Is Postponed 1 Week

By MACK REED

Jan. 7, 1992 12 AM PT

A handful of Montalvo residents strongly protested a plan Monday for Ventura to annex their unincorporated neighborhoods to the city.

After a public hearing, the Ventura City Council put off deciding the matter until next week, when the number of written protests can be tallied.

“Montalvo’s been there, like, 110 years,” said Rodney Haring, who lives on Grand Avenue. “There’s people . . . who’ve lived there 40 years. The people I’ve talked to say they like it the way it is.”

Nancy Acosta, also a Grand Avenue resident, said several of her Spanish-speaking neighbors could not read the notices about the annexation that were distributed by the Ventura County Local Agency Formation Commission.

“I think there has been a lot of missed connections,” she said.

Robert Braitman, executive director of LAFCO, said the plan is supported by 75% of those who own property in the unincorporated islands of land in east Ventura. LAFCO sent two letters to each of the affected property owners, he said.

Richard Sweet, a Grand Avenue resident, said he approves of the annexation. “I feel it will give us all who live in Montalvo in the city’s sphere of influence a chance to express our opinions to you,” Sweet told the council.

The five areas that would be annexed are bounded roughly by Victoria Avenue, Moon Drive and Katherine Avenue.

The annexation also includes 35.6 acres off Saticoy Avenue, where Wittenberg, Livingston Inc. plans to build 100 units of low- and moderate-income housing. Wittenberg has already consented to the annexation.

Property owners whose land would be annexed to Ventura would pay less overall in property taxes and utility fees, officials have said.

Residents’ tax bills are slightly higher inside the city than they are outside, and they must pay a 5% tax to the city on utility bills, including electricity, gas, telephone and cable TV, Braitman said.

However, residents do not have to pay the 70% surcharge on city fees levied on water customers who live outside the city, he said.