MIRA MONTE : Supervisors Allow Pay Less Pharmacy

Two hours of debate by opponents of a discount pharmacy in the Ojai Valley failed to persuade Ventura County supervisors Tuesday to grant an appeal by residents worried about extra traffic on California 33.

Saying that it is not their place to dictate free enterprise, supervisors voted unanimously to allow Pay Less Drugs to move into an abandoned supermarket in Mira Monte, a small community just south of Ojai.

The pharmacy chain originally planned to move into the Ojai Valley Bowl just north of downtown Ojai, but residents last summer persuaded city officials not to allow that proposal. The bowling alley has since closed.

Last fall, officials with the chain settled on the 8,000-square-foot Slinger’s Market at the corner of California 33 and Villanova Road, about one mile south of Ojai.

County planners ruled in October that a drugstore on the market property would not significantly impact the neighborhood. But members of Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, an environmental organization, appealed that ruling to the Planning Commission, which upheld its staff’s decision.

On Tuesday, environmentalists armed with petitions opposing the Pay Less move asked supervisors to overrule planning commissioners.

“No one closely questioned the essence of the new-use issue,” said Stan Greene, president of the environmental group.

But the supervisors disagreed, siding instead with staff planners in ruling that a drugstore creates less traffic than a supermarket. Supervisor Judy Mikels said she was concerned that so much time was spent on the drugstore.

“For this much energy to be wasted on this type of issue is unfortunate,” she said. “There are much more important issues.”