CSU Delays Farmland Seizure to Resolve Cost Concerns

Cal State University trustees Tuesday decided to wait at least two months before seizing farmland near Camarillo for a public university so that state officials can make sure local governments will help pay for water, sewer and road improvements to the site.

“We’re not the big banker in the sky,” said David Leveille, Cal State’s director of institutional relations. “We cannot take care of all of these things.”

He said Cal State University trustees do not want to start spending money on costly condemnation procedures until the county and cities formally agree to fulfill promises of financial help in preparing the site at Santa Clara and Central avenues for a Cal State campus.

A group of trustees also agreed that it is prudent to wait until the state adopts a budget for the 1992-93 fiscal year before moving ahead with the $6.5-million purchase, Leveille said. The 20-campus state system is faced with its worst fiscal crisis ever and the board wants to assess the impact when final budget figures are released, he said.

Trustees were pleased that the cities of Camarillo and Oxnard and the county of Ventura have agreed in concept to support construction of a Cal State campus on 320 acres of citrus groves and farmland west of Camarillo, Leveille said. He said state officials have no estimate of what the improvements would cost local governments.

But they want those governments to sign a development agreement with Cal State specifically stating who will pay to supply the site with water and sewer lines and who will pay for needed road improvements, Leveille said.

The board hopes to have that agreement in hand by its meeting in mid-September, Leveille said. Then it will decide whether to proceed with condemnation, he said.

Officials from Camarillo, Oxnard and the county said they have already begun working on a development agreement and that talks so far have been amicable. Tentative plans call for Camarillo to provide sewer service, Oxnard to supply water and the county to help with flood control and road improvements, said Richard Wittenberg, the county’s chief administrator.

So far, officials have held no specific discussions on how much it will cost each government entity to help prepare the site for a campus, Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi said. He said it is not unreasonable for Cal State officials to request a development agreement before they move forward.

“I’ve gone through development agreements before,” Takasugi said. “It gives both sides an idea of what each is offering and then there are no surprises.”

Wittenberg said the September deadline may be optimistic because each city and the county must go through several steps, including approval by government boards before they can make any financial commitments.

But he said he is hopeful it will move forward quickly.

“Everyone is for the project,” Wittenberg said.