CAMARILLO : Community Urged for Sammis Site

A citizens advisory committee has recommended that a community of 1,129 homes, 12 acres of businesses, a school and public recreational facilities be developed in Camarillo on and around land once slated for a factory outlet mall.

Camarillo Gateway, proposed for 250 acres off Pleasant Valley Road, would include a civic center, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an amphitheater for indoor and outdoor plays and concerts, four baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, hiking and biking trails, an adult and child day-care center, a lake and 30 acres of open space.

The Sammis Co., which owns 87 acres at the site, appointed the group in search of a project the community would support more than the factory outlet mall that it had sought to build. The committee drafted the report after 20 three-hour meetings held since the panel was formed in January.

The report, released Wednesday, promises that The Sammis Co. will help to solve Conejo Creek flooding problems that affect Leisure Village and Camarillo Springs. Sammis also has agreed to find a way to pay for a new elementary school, because the 13 Pleasant Valley School District schools are already crowded.

The 19-member committee will present its final report to the City Council at its meeting next week.

San Francisco architect Peter Calthorpe came up with the idea of a walkable neighborhood that includes a supermarket and offers a range of housing types and costs.

At several public workshops, Calthorpe developed a working proposal with participants, some of whom said they would rather retain the area’s agricultural uses. The report details the committee’s final version of that proposal.

“They have been seriously attempting to make real the public benefits that this project can bring to the town, not just using them as eyewash,” Calthorpe said. “You have an extraordinary project here. It’s unbelievable.”

Although Sammis owns only 87 of the 250 acres, the committee wanted the developer to hire Calthorpe Associates to plan for the whole area.