VENTURA : Planners Give Final OK to Courthouse
The Ventura Planning Commission has given final approval for the construction of a new courthouse in downtown Ventura for use by the 2nd District Court of Appeal.
Approved by the commission Tuesday, the 33,000-square-foot building will provide ample space for the division of the state appellate court that has been housed for 10 years in cramped quarters on Victoria Avenue.
Lacking a courtroom of their own, the appeal judges have had to borrow a courtroom at the nearby county Hall of Justice or courthouses in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.
The new building, which will feature a neoclassical motif and two prominent domes, will be constructed by developer Larry Moore of Tustin and then leased to the state.
“We are looking forward to the move,” Presiding Justice Steven J. Stone said Thursday. “What a luxury it will be after not having a courtroom for 10 years.”
Three vacant residential structures at Figueroa and Santa Clara streets will be demolished to allow construction of the new courthouse, said Ventura City Planner Mitch Oshinsky.
The project must still receive final approval from the city’s Architectural Review Board and be granted a building permit by city planners before construction can begin, Oshinsky said. The new building could be open within one year.
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