Limits on Stays at RV Park Are Imposed by Panel

The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday decided to limit long-term stays at the Ventura Beach RV Resort because it sits at the mouth of the Ventura River, which is in a flood plain.

The state regulatory agency overruled a decision by the Ventura City Council last year to allow campers to stay up to nine months a year. The commission voted to restrict campers to a total of 90 days a year. Campers must leave every 30 days and are not allowed to return to the park for a minimum of 48 hours.

The commission also voted to require park owner Nancy Hubbard to carry a $10-million insurance policy. The park is now insured for losses up to $2 million.

Hubbard said she has not yet decided if she will accept the commission’s ruling.

“It has severe financial impact,” Hubbard said after the decision. “It calls for reducing revenue and increasing expenses.”

The permit cannot be changed without Hubbard’s approval, city officials said.

During the meeting, Hubbard told the commission she objected to the staff’s findings, calling the staff recommendation “totally unacceptable.”

If Hubbard decides against accepting the commission’s decision, then city staff would enforce the conditions of the original permit approved in 1985, said Everett Millais, Ventura’s community development director.

That permit does not allow anyone to stay at the park past 30 days, and a camper cannot return for at least two weeks after a visit.

“We would try to enforce a condition that nobody likes,” Millais told the commission. City staff did not enforce the permit’s length-of-stay conditions until after storms last year flooded the 19-acre park.

The length of stay became an issue after the February, 1992, storms, when city officials became concerned that some recreational vehicles were inoperative and unable to evacuate immediately because long-term campers had failed to maintain them. One homeless man living in the nearby river bottom drowned during the rains, and about 40 RVs were damaged or destroyed.

City staff last December had recommended that the council restrict long-term stays at the park, but Hubbard successfully lobbied council members to allow nine-month stays.

The decision was appealed to the Coastal Commission by some residents, the League of Women Voters and the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County. They argued that because the park is located on a flood plain, no long-term residents should be allowed.

According to Coastal Commission staff, some residents have listed the RV park address as their home address on voter registration records, and a school bus has been seen stopping at the site.

“It continues to be a hazard to occupants,” said Ruth Shime, a Ventura resident who spoke against the location of the park.

Jill Rogers, representing the League of Women Voters, told the commission: “The river will flood again.”

Councilwoman Cathy Bean, who opposed the council’s decision to allow nine-month stays, said allowing long-term residents would be “a serious threat to property and human life.”

The commission also voted to require Hubbard to install an early-warning system to alert residents about floods.

Hubbard told the commission she has already worked with county officials since last year’s floods to develop a better early-warning system, including an evacuation plan and three warning sirens.