Proposal May Alter Housing Policy for Developers : Ventura: The change would assure developers of allocations for projects in return for providing the city with public improvements.

Ventura officials on Monday will discuss sweeping changes to the city’s housing policy that could encourage developers to donate more space for parks, community centers and other public improvements.

The City Council will decide whether to authorize a draft of the proposed changes, which officials said would give the city more leverage in obtaining public improvements from developers.

In return, developers would have greater assurances of securing housing allocations needed to complete their projects.

City policy now requires that developers compete for housing allocations each year. Because the council distributes up to 140 housing units annually, developers of large projects must return each year to request more allocations.

Some council members say that by doling out small allocations piecemeal over several years, the city loses the ability to obtain significant public improvements from developers.

“There isn’t much we can negotiate for over, say, 50 units,” Councilman Todd Collart said. “Let’s think a little bigger.”

Collart, who was elected on a slow-growth platform, is on a city housing committee that proposed changing the policy to spell out what would be required of developers who want to build a large project. Such a policy would assure that developers would not have to compete each year for the necessary housing units to finish their projects, he said.

“What they want is more certainty,” Collart said. “Certainty comes at a price.”

If the housing policy is changed, the council would have the flexibility to commit a certain amount of housing allocations in future years to developers, he said.

The city’s Comprehensive Plan strongly discourages the council from borrowing against future allocations unless a developer can show that a particular project is of great benefit to the community.

Collart said he expects the housing policy would be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan because the council would not borrow future allocations for a current project, but simply “pre-commit allocations from future years.”

But Councilwoman Cathy Bean, a slow-growth advocate, said the city does not need new houses and should halt all residential development for several years.

After council members discuss changing the policy, they are expected Monday to consider allocating 120 housing units to three developers. It will be the first time since a three-year moratorium on residential construction was lifted in May that the council has considered approving new housing units.

Bean said she intends to vote against the allocations.

“There’s plenty of housing around here,” she said, noting that the city has already approved about 1,100 housing units that have not yet been built.

Bean said she does not think it is prudent to promise developers allocations from future years because it would hamper future council members.

“What if someone comes in with a really great project, but we’ve allocated them already?” she said.

Ellen Michiel, assistant vice president at Woodland Hills-based Raznick & Sons, called the city’s plans to change its housing policy “a very practical thing.” The company is one of the three developers seeking housing allocations and has built other projects in Ventura.

Developers want greater guarantees that they will receive sufficient housing allocations to complete their projects, she said.

“It’s very important that we know we can build out our projects so we can get financing,” Michiel said. “I think the city is trying to figure out how to get the best bang for the buck.”