CAMARILLO : Development Study Is Expected Soon

A Camarillo citizens committee appointed by the Sammis Co. hopes to finish a report in two weeks that will recommend a plan to develop 250 acres off Pleasant Valley Road, a committee spokesman said last week.

“We’re just trying to get as much input as we can,” said Jim Turner, spokesman for the 19-member Camarillo Community Advisory Committee.

Turner said the committee is seeking answers to lingering concerns on the plan, which was drafted by the San Francisco-based architectural firm Calthorpe Associates.

The plan, intended to be an alternative to Sammis’ original proposal for a factory outlet mall, calls for about 1,200 residences, small stores, restaurants, an elementary school, a park, a lake, and biking and walking trails.

Of the 250 acres, Sammis owns only 87--now used to farm celery--but hopes to buy the remaining land.

Turner expects the committee to issue the report in about two weeks, after it has addressed such concerns as who would maintain the park and how school construction would be funded.

Sammis has promised to submit the report to the City Council, he said.

Sammis officials declined to comment last week.

City Manager William Little said Sammis representatives have called to suggest a meeting with City Council members in June or July.

Afterward, Little said, the council will decide whether to refer it to the Planning Department for review.

Turner said he is confident that there will be ample public support for the plan.

“I think this is a plan that a lot of people have put some input into,” he said.

The plan was discussed at three Saturday public workshops in recent months.

Although many of the participants said they would prefer that the land be left for agricultural use, others said they would prefer houses over a mall.