CAMARILLO : Reversed Decision Will Allow Condos

The Camarillo City Council, reversing a decision made in October, has approved a zone change allowing Spanish Hills Development Corp. to build 54 rather than four condominiums on a 5.4-acre portion of the development.

The council voted 4 to 1 this week to approve the change, with Councilman Ken Gose opposing it. The approval brings to 300 the total number of housing units planned in the 430-acre development between Las Posas Road and Central Avenue.

The project now calls for an 18-hole golf course, a clubhouse, 114 condominiums and 186 single-family houses.

Gose, Mayor Stanley J. Daily and Councilman Michael Morgan voted against the zone change in October. But during the six months that the council gave itself to rethink the matter, Daily and Morgan switched their positions.

The developer had considered building a resort hotel on the site, City Manager William Little said. A park was then considered, but was later moved to another area to make room for the new condominiums.

Daily said he was not convinced last year that the additional units were a good idea, but after watching the project progress, he changed his mind.

But Gose said he opposed the zone change because he did not want to increase population density in the area and feared that the new, expensive units would sit empty.

“We have said we don’t like to see the concentration of people in the Santa Rosa Valley, and here we are,” he said.

Councilwoman Charlotte Craven, who voted for the zone change in October and again this week, said it will create housing for a segment of the population that Camarillo has not been targeting.

“Our fast-paced, high-stress lifestyle is forcing many people who have higher incomes into condominium-type homes where there’s less upkeep and less yardwork,” Craven said.