PAST GLORIES: Santa Paula is Ventura County’s...

PAST GLORIES: Santa Paula is Ventura County’s second-oldest city, incorporated in 1902. But it has a far larger share of old houses than the county’s first city, 127-year-old Ventura. . . . One reason: growth. Ventura’s population--and need for housing--has increased sevenfold since 1940, while Santa Paula is only three times larger. . . . Santa Paula’s historical treasures include Queen Anne, Victorian and Colonial Revival houses, mostly built between 1886 and 1905. . . . Many are listed in a 20-page guide published by the Santa Paula Historical Society. The group presents awards each year for restoration efforts.

Historic Homes

Percentage of homes built before 1940:

Santa Paula: 14.3 Ojai: 13.8 Fillmore: 13.1 Ventura: 8.8 Oxnard: 2.5 Moorpark: 1.6 Port Hueneme: 0.5 Simi Valley: 0.4 Camarillo: 0.4 Thousand Oaks: 0.3

Source: California Cities, Towns & Counties, 1993

DESAL SOLUTION? Although Ventura has begun engineering studies for a proposed desalination plant, the end of the drought last spring has removed some of the urgency. And more than half of the 14 council candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot want to study other options. . . . But now Port Hueneme and the Navy are looking into building their own desal plant--not to increase supply but to improve quality (B1). . . . Ventura County already has the state’s first desal plant--a 16,000-gallon-a-day water factory on San Nicolas Island, opened in 1990 to serve Navy personnel.

GOLF HANDICAP: Supporters say a new 18-hole golf course in Thousand Oaks will be challenging (B5), and they’re not just talking about the sand traps and water hazards. . . . To protect the sensitive Hill Canyon site, the proposal calls for building the parking lot and clubhouse half a mile away. Golfers would have to take a shuttle down a steep incline to the first tee. . . . “This is just like commuting to downtown L. A. by bus,” one golfer muttered after seeing the plan. . . . The course is expected to attract 70,000 golfers a year.

POLO PALS: Chris Stehle and Chris Prewitt grew up in the same Ventura neighborhood, went to the same schools and developed the same love of water polo. They also share the same disability: deafness (C8). . . . Now they play for the ninth-ranked Ventura College team.