City to Study Farmland Proposal : Camarillo: The council plans to discuss a policy to protect agricultural acreage from development. Adoption could affect Sammis project.

The Camarillo City Council will conduct a study meeting Wednesday to discuss a proposed policy to protect agricultural land from development whenever possible.

The council will review a report from the city’s Planning Department that comments on the policy and other proposed planning goals recommended by a 42-member citizens committee.

On Oct. 7, the council will take a formal vote on whether to accept the proposed policies.

The farmland policy has been the most controversial of the citizens committee recommendations, which will serve as a basis for updating the city’s General Plan.

Council members have said that adoption of the policy could have an effect on whether The Sammis Co. will be allowed to build a 1,100-home community on farmland off Pleasant Valley Road.

The council also is slated to decide whether to allow Sammis to submit the project for review at the Oct. 7 meeting.

The policy calls for converting agricultural property to other uses “only if a demonstrated need for the project is evident and that there is no alternate location available on non-agriculturally zoned areas,” the report said.

Planning Director Matthew (Tony) A. Boden did not make a recommendation in the report on whether the council should adopt that goal, nor did he suggest that the council should apply the standard strictly or loosely.

Although the policy is not in place, the council has held development proposals to this standard in the past.

Boden said that if the council adopts the policy, it would not preclude developers from building on farmland.