OJAI : City Urges Merger of 2 Planning Agencies

The Ojai City Council has approved asking Ventura County officials to merge two planning agencies into a single advisory panel that would consider land use policies throughout the Ojai Valley.

But the county Local Agency Formation Commission also must approve the recommendation, which was made by a group of Ojai Valley residents studying the possibility of incorporating the valley into a single city.

Merging the Ojai and Ventura River Valley areas of interest is considered a first step toward someday incorporating a valleywide city, supporters told the Ojai City Council late Tuesday.

“We need to unify the valley so that we have a stronger voice in our destiny,” said Lanie Jo Springer, a member of the Ventura River Valley Municipal Advisory Council and a leader of the Local Government Options Committee.

“Out of 26,000 people, only a little over 7,000 are incorporated,” Springer said. “Our supervisors have a much larger constituency (elsewhere), so our voice is not very strong when it comes to certain issues.”

In recommending that a single planning group be established, the council also asked that county supervisors extend the boundaries of the Ventura River Valley Municipal Advisory Council to include the east end of the Ojai Valley.