Review of Proposed RV Resort Recommended : Development: Coastal Commission staff members say appeal filed by opponents of the planned oceanfront project has merit.

Environmental concerns over a proposed oceanfront recreational resort in Port Hueneme should trigger a full-scale review of the project by the California Coastal Commission, the agency’s staff members are recommending.

Coastal Commission staffers said Wednesday that an appeal filed by opponents of the recreational vehicle park has merit and warrants further investigation.

The Coastal Commission is scheduled to consider the matter Wednesday. If commissioners agree with staff, a comprehensive review of the proposal will be ordered.

“We are recommending that we go back and do our own independent analysis of the project,” said Christopher Price, a Ventura-based program analyst with the state agency. “I think the city would like to have it over with as soon as possible, but we need to be thorough.”

After years of planning and public meetings, the Port Hueneme City Council last month approved the 144-space RV resort on 10 acres at the end of Ocean View Drive at Port Hueneme Beach Park.

City officials say the project will generate hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in profit, revenue badly needed to maintain the seaside park and fund other city services.

“The city has pledged that the money generated from the RV resort will be used to maintain those facilities,” City Manager Richard Velthoen said of the beachfront park. “It is a fact that without additional sources of revenue for those purposes, those facilities will without question deteriorate.”

But opponents of the proposed RV park fear that it will harm nearby wetlands and ruin their ocean views.

In appealing the City Council’s approval of the project to the Coastal Commission, detractors argued that the resort would violate city and state laws guiding coastal development.

Specifically, opponents say the Hueneme Beach Park Master Plan only allows for the site to be developed with picnic tables, a playground and other minor improvements.

Commission staff members agree that those concerns deserve further examination. Residents who have fought the project said they expect the commission to adopt the staff’s recommendations.

“I don’t know if I would look at this as any kind of victory,” said Dorothy Blake, one of several homeowners who appealed the project’s approval. “I look at it as just the start of the process. We still have a long way to go.”

Environmentalists and nearby property owners have vowed to file a federal lawsuit against the city if the Coastal Commission approves the project.

But that approval may be tough to get. Commission staff members say they have concerns in addition to those raised by the opponents, including its effect on coastal habitat and other biological resources.

“There are a number of issues outside the scope of those being raised in the appeal,” Price said. “Basically, we want to override the local government’s decision-making process and take it upon ourselves to look further into those issues.”

Velthoen noted that an environmental impact report prepared for the project said it would do little harm to surrounding habitat.

“Any time you build something, there is an impact on the environment,” he said. “The question is how much of an impact is there? Our research, which has gone back five years, indicates that the impact will be minimal.”