PORT HUENEME : Motor Home Resort Plan Under Attack

Opponents of a proposed municipal motor home resort urged the Port Hueneme Planning Commission on Tuesday to reject the $2.3-million oceanfront project as its final act in office.

The Planning Commission, which is scheduled to be dissolved in March, heard from about 100 beach-area residents and environmentalists who challenged an environmental study of the 10-acre project.

Speakers attacked the study for minimizing the effect of the project on traffic, noise, ocean views and nearby nesting grounds of migratory birds.

“Public beach and ocean views would be sacrificed in the name of pie-in-the-sky profits,” said David Kanter, vice president of the Surfside III Homeowners Assn. “I object to spending tax money on this speculative venture.” City officials have proposed the recreational vehicle resort as a source of $400,000 a year for the city treasury. With the new revenue, officials say, the city could rescind its so-called “view tax,” a $66- to $184-a-year levy on beach-area homeowners approved last summer to help offset beach maintenance costs.

Residents argued that building the 143-space RV resort on 10 acres of city-owned beachfront would be a nearsighted solution to the city’s budget problems. They said the City Council would be dedicating to outsiders nearly 20% of the municipal beach, the city’s most valuable real estate.

The environmental study commissioned by the City Council found that the project would have no negative effects, except for obstructing the ocean views from some condominiums.

The Planning Commission will vote on the proposal March 4 just before the panel is dissolved under order of the City Council, which deemed it unnecessary in the largely developed city.

The council is set to vote on the project April 1. The proposal must also win approval from the State Lands Commission, which maintains jurisdiction over the site’s use, and the California Coastal Commission, which governs development along the coast line.