OJAI VALLEY : Panel Urges Caution in City Merger Plan
A committee of Ojai Valley residents Thursday reviewed a study that urges the area to hold off on plans to merge into a single city until the economy improves.
The 11-month, $15,000 study was commissioned by the city of Ojai to examine a plan that would pool valley resources to increase the area’s leverage on land-use and other issues in the county. The valley area includes Ojai, Oak View, Casitas Springs, Meiners Oaks and Mira Monte.
The study estimated that out of a projected annual budget of $6.3 million, a valleywide city would have an operating surplus of only $28,000.
Based on that estimate, the study recommended that Ojai Valley communities hold off on merging and in the interim establish an areawide planning commission.
On Thursday, the 30-member Ojai Valley Local Government Options Committee agreed with the study, but asked that several aspects, including the suggested planning commission, be looked at more closely before a recommendation is made.
In the next month, the plan will be revised and brought before the committee again, before going to the Ojai City Council for final approval, group chairman Mansfield Sprague said.
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