Deal Clears Way for New Cal State Near Camarillo

A lemon grower Monday said he has agreed to sell 200 acres near Camarillo to the California State University system, clearing a hurdle that has blocked Ventura County from building a public university for years.

Cal State officials have scheduled a news conference for this morning to announce details of the agreement after they inform the Ventura County Board of Supervisors of the breakthrough.

If the sale goes through as planned, it would be the first time Cal State officials have been able to acquire land for a Ventura County campus in more than 25 years.

Over the past eight years, university officials have tried to buy two other parcels in the county for a campus. But local opposition forced them to back away from those deals, making the county the largest in the state without a public four-year college.

“This is the break we’ve been looking for,” said Peter MacDougall, chairman of an advisory committee of volunteers pushing for a local state university.

Michael Mohseni, whose family owns 200 acres west of Camarillo, said he is pleased with the transaction, despite a condemnation suit filed against him by Cal State officials to acquire the land.

“I’m happy to be contributing in a small way to Ventura County being able to get a four-year university after 10 or 12 years of effort by the state college,” Mohseni said.

The deal calls for the state to acquire 200 acres owned by the Mohseni Ranch off Central Avenue, and a neighboring 60-acre parcel owned by Sakioka Farms, Mohseni said. Specific terms of the deal were to be disclosed today.

Mohseni Ranch, which owns roughly four-fifths of the 260-acre site, had refused to sell for three years.

Joyce M. Kennedy, longtime director of the Ventura satellite campus of Cal State Northridge, said this morning’s announcement will be “a wonderful Christmas present.” She has worked for years to expand the Cal State Northridge Ventura campus to a four-year university.

The Legislature has set aside more than $5 million to acquire property for a Cal State campus in Ventura County, Kennedy said.