City Decides to Redesign RV Project : Port Hueneme: Council will follow coastal panel’s recommendation and move the proposed resort 290 feet so it won’t pose danger to wetlands.

Trying to salvage its long-sought recreational vehicle resort, the Port Hueneme City Council decided Wednesday to redesign its proposed beachfront project so it can overcome environmental concerns of the California Coastal Commission.

The council voted 3 to 1 to follow the Coastal Commission’s recommendation to move the proposed RV resort 290 feet up the coast so it would not pose a danger to habitat on environmentally sensitive wetlands and sand dunes.

“The RV resort represents a stream of revenue that is much needed for this city,” Mayor Orvene Carpenter told the 120 residents who packed the council chambers in protest of the RV park. “If we felt that there were any endangered species in the area, we, the city, would be the first to protect them.”

The council’s decision comes a week after the Coastal Commission narrowly rejected a city proposal to build a 144-space resort on a city-owned beach about a half-mile down the coast from the municipal pier.

Although the commission concluded the resort could harm the fragile environment, it invited the city to resubmit its application provided that it relocate the project away from the fragile dunes and make other changes to protect the environment.

Councilwoman Toni Young cast the lone vote against the project, arguing that the resort has caused enough tension in the community. She suggested that the decision should be left to the newly elected City Council, which will take office about the first of the year.

Councilman James Daniels was absent from the meeting.

Although the Coastal Commission last week denied the city’s request, the commission approved a compromise proposal recommended by its staff. Under that plan, the beachfront project could be built if moved north toward the municipal pier, and if the city replants the original site with native vegetation.

Moving the site would require city planners to redesign the entire project so it could fit on the new terrain, said Tom Figg, the city’s community development director.

With a revised proposal, the city will need to “determine how many RVs we will be able to put on the new site and what revenues it (resort) will bring to the city,” Figg said.

The commission also wanted the city to allow tent campers to use the resort and set up a public education center to help residents and visitors appreciate the sensitivity of nearby endangered plants and animals.

But the council directed city planners to prepare a new proposal with the education center and possibly without a provision for tents at the resort.

Figg said it will take about two weeks for city staff members to rework the project for submission. He also said that before the city reapplies to the Coastal Commission, the city must have a public hearing on the revamped proposal.

City officials, who estimated that the initial resort proposal would net $400,000 a year, have spent more than $500,000 on environmental and market studies on the project so far.

Councilman Dorill Wright, who sits on the Coastal Commission and is a supporter of the resort, urged the city to proceed now with the project to avoid conducting another round of environmental studies.

The city’s initial proposal submitted to the Coastal Commission called for construction of the resort on a 10-acre beachfront site at the end of Ocean View Drive at Hueneme Beach Park. The project was vehemently opposed by environmentalists, who noted the wetland is home to the California least tern, an endangered bird.

The project has also been strongly opposed by some owners of the nearby 375-condominium complex, who argued it would ruin their ocean views and property values.

Tom Brigham, a spokesman for Surfside III Condominium Homeowners Assn., vowed to file a federal lawsuit if the Coastal Commission approves the city’s new proposal.

“If this project is ever approved, we will file so many lawsuits that we will hold up the project for at least three years,” Brigham said. “City officials should read our lips: There is not going to be any RV park near our homes.”