CAMARILLO : Non-Residents Are Barred From Panel

People who own property but do not live in Camarillo will not be able to serve on a committee charged with shaping the community’s planning and zoning goals, the City Council decided Wednesday.

The council split in a 3-2 vote, with Councilmen Charles K. Gose and David M. Smith rejecting the motion to allow only Camarillo residents to serve on the 25-member Community Goals Updating Committee.

The council-appointed committee may suggest changing land uses in the city’s General Plan, which would require council approval. Subcommittees may be formed to discuss the committee’s recommendations.

Vice Mayor Charlotte Craven said 50 applications have already been turned in, so the city does not need to attract non-residents. Applications will be accepted until Jan. 31.

“I feel very strongly that the goals of the city should be determined by the people who live in the city,” Craven said.

Smith countered that people should only have to work in Camarillo and own property in the city to meet qualifications for a committee appointment.

“I’m not sure it’s a simple matter,” he said. There are “a lot of friends of Camarillo who may not necessarily live here.”

But Mayor Stanley J. Daily and Councilman Michael D. Morgan agreed with Craven.

Gose urged the council to consider for committee appointment people living in the unincorporated areas surrounding Camarillo, because their land may be annexed to the city.