Ventura Likely to Lift Restrictions on Residential Growth : Development: City will consider proposals for 35 homes and schedule hearing on projects delayed since 1990 by drought.

The Ventura City Council tonight is expected to ease restrictions on new housing development imposed during the height of the drought, essentially lifting a three-year ban on residential development.

Specifically, the council will consider new proposals to build 35 houses or apartments, and schedule a public hearing next month to permit nine long-stalled projects to move forward with permits needed to build 108 units.

The nine projects have been delayed since 1990, when the council imposed a moratorium on water hookups and halted the issuing of building permits in an effort to stall growth and conserve water.

But now, Ventura officials said two wet winters, the decision to build a desalination plant and new wells have afforded the city sufficient water to allow new construction, Councilman Todd Collart said.

“We should be making a bunch of people happy,” Collart said.

“It’s about time,” said Robert Guillen, spokesman for the Ventura County Building and Construction Trades Council. “Ventura is one of the worst cities in the county as far as building.”

Developers whose projects were delayed since the March, 1990, moratorium said they are relieved the city will permit construction. But they complained that because the real estate market has since plummeted, any profits will be much lower.

Some would-be developers, angry and frustrated at the delays, accused the council of using the drought in 1990 as an excuse not to allow new development.

“This was going to be my pension fund,” said Kent Sterling, a retired school teacher who wants to build eight custom homes on Bridgeview Drive. “The city has taken a big bite out of that. The property has depreciated 20% to 30%.”

Michael DiBenedetto, a real estate appraiser who wants to build a 13-unit condominium complex at Poli and Oak streets, said that even if the council approves it, he has not decided whether to go forward with his project.

“There’s risk involved,” he said. “This is not a good time for developers.”

During the moratorium, city officials exempted about 400 affordable housing units from building restrictions because they said that low-cost housing is sorely needed in the city.

The council’s anticipated action will only provide a trickle of development, compared to the flow of building during the 1980s, said Everett Millais, the city’s community development director. In the first wave, the city will only issue allocations for 35 units, compared to an average of 560 units a year in the 1980s, Millais said.

But before the year is out, the city may consider issuing allocations for as many as 300 additional units for larger housing projects, Millais said.

“For several years, the city of Ventura has taken the posture of avoiding development at all costs,” said Dee Boysen, executive officer of the area Building Industry Assn. “Building is very politically controlled.”

Wayne Colmer, president of a small development company that operates mostly in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, noted that the recession makes it easy for council members to change their stance on development because few houses will be built in the next few years.

“Market conditions don’t warrant a lot of housing,” Colmer said. “They have nothing to fear now.”

Because of the moratorium, Colmer said he has been growing avocados and flowers on 13 acres he wants to develop at Foothill Road and Victoria Avenue.

“We use four times as much water for farming,” Colmer said. “If they were really concerned about the water supply, they would have let our project go through. It was purely political.”

Since the moratorium was imposed, a pro-business slate of councilmen swept into office on a platform of improving the city’s image as hostile to business.

Councilman Tom Buford, who was one of three council members elected on the slate, denied that lifting the moratorium is politically motivated.

“The moratorium three years ago was legit,” said Buford, who pointed out that the drought was still on at the time. “This is a recognition that we have new facts and new circumstances.”

Councilman Gary Tuttle, who favors slow growth, acknowledged that the political climate also has since changed.

“I’m not thrilled about it, but I got hammered into submission about it,” said Tuttle, who is likely to vote for permitting new development. “It’s taking a chance on continued rain.”

Despite the council’s change in position, builders pointed to a new proposal involving retrofitting toilets as an example of how Ventura is still unfriendly to developers.

Last fall, the council relaxed the ban on construction by allowing new commercial development if builders replace water-wasting toilets in existing buildings with water-saving models.

Next month, the council will decide whether to also require residential developers to subsidize the replacement of toilets in existing buildings if they want to build new houses.

Developers said the toilet requirement would add to their costs, which would be passed onto the consumer.

“It’s cockamamie,” said William Clark, who had a three-unit apartment project delayed by the moratorium. “It’s another way for the city to discourage developers from coming here.”