Camarillo Leaders Will Reconsider Theater Complex

The Camarillo City Council on Wednesday night will reconsider a controversial proposal to build an 11-screen United Artists theater complex near Camino Ruiz and Verdugo Way.

During its Jan. 12 meeting, the council tentatively approved the 2,629-seat complex but asked the city’s Planning Commission to review city-imposed stipulations about parking at the site. The stipulations are among 135 conditions for city approval of the project.

Officials of Pardee Construction Co., the proposal’s developer, object to the parking requirement. They say it would unfairly allow the city to regulate the theater’s operations.

City planning staff said they will offer members of the council a compromise that would allow the city to monitor parking conditions at the theater and refer problems to the Planning Commission for review. However, the commission would not be allowed to reduce the number of screens or seats at the complex to solve a parking problem. Instead, it would have to refer problems to the City Council.

During the January meeting, the council heard several hours of testimony from residents living nearby who argued that the proposal would generate too much light and noise.

The homeowners, residents of the Fairfield II housing tract, have retained an attorney to represent them at Wednesday’s meeting and have threatened to sue the city should the council approve the theater project.

The meeting starts at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 601 Carmen Dr.