Cities Face Fight Over Traffic : Development: The county gets tough over the effects of proposed factory outlet centers in Oxnard and Camarillo.

Ventura County officials have decided to take an increasingly hard-line approach to cities’ approval of developments that would pour traffic onto county roads.

And they are testing that new approach on proposed factory outlet centers in Oxnard and Camarillo.

Citing concerns over traffic on county roads, the county this week appealed the Camarillo Planning Commission’s approval of a 60- to 80-store retail outlet center proposed for 23 acres south of the Ventura Freeway, between Las Posas Road and Carmen Drive.

For similar reasons, the county sued the city of Oxnard last month after the City Council approved a 90-store factory outlet center for 27 acres south of the Ventura Freeway, between Rice and Rose avenues.

There’s nothing new in county officials complaining that cities approve construction projects without forcing developers to improve county roads affected by the developments, officials said.

But this time the county is pushing Oxnard and Camarillo to sign agreements committing their cities to levy fees on all future development projects that would generate traffic on county thoroughfares.

The contract would be reciprocal, with the county agreeing to require developers in unincorporated areas to help pay for improving city-owned roads.

County public works officials said they hope that all of the county’s 10 cities will eventually enter into such agreements with the county.

“We all drive around the county and we can see what’s happening with traffic,” Assistant Public Works Director Butch Britt said. “Traffic doesn’t stop at the city limits.”

Until now, the county and cities have handled each new project on a case-by-case basis, Britt said.

But county officials have been frustrated that developers of projects in cities sometimes promise to build freeway interchanges, widen streets or make other roadway improvements and don’t deliver.

The reciprocal traffic agreement “would just basically be an enforceable agreement between the two parties,” Britt said.

County Public Works Director Art Goulet said county officials drafted the agreement because their only other alternative is to sue whenever cities approve a project that doesn’t account for traffic impacts on county roads.

“We’ve just reached the point where we realize unless we do something significant like litigate, we’re not going to get our point across,” Goulet said.

Oxnard officials said they generally agree with the county’s proposal for the written contract and expect the City Council to approve the contract subject to other cities in the county also signing on.

County and Oxnard officials said they expect to settle the lawsuit and complete the proposed traffic agreement by the end of next month.

In Camarillo, the council will consider the county’s appeal of the factory outlet mall Jan. 13.

Goulet said the county will not drop its objections to the proposed mall unless the council approves entering into such a traffic agreement.

He acknowledged that it might work in the county’s favor to get tough with both cities about the proposed factory outlet centers, which are high priority projects to city officials because of the sales tax revenues they would generate.

“Very often, high-profile projects are the best projects to make your point with,” Goulet said.