Camarillo Balks at Role in Baseball Stadium : Development: Council votes to drop out of three-city consortium planning to build minor league arena. Economic benefits offered by Ventura site were found wanting.

Severing ties with a three-city team developing a 5,500-seat minor league baseball stadium, the Camarillo City Council on Wednesday formally withdrew from the rare cooperative project.

On the recommendation of City Manager Bill Little, the council voted 4 to 0 to drop its support of the proposal that city leaders had pursued with Oxnard and Ventura.

The other two cities say they plan to continue with the project with a mix of public and private funds.

Councilman Ken Gose, the stadium’s leading backer, was absent from Wednesday’s meeting.

Gose and other leaders had hoped that a state-of-the-art stadium would bring a minor league team to western Ventura County.

“We don’t know if the stadium is going to ever come true, but we, as a city, have to at this point in time say that our involvement in the process should come to an end,” Councilman David Smith said.

In a report to the council, Little said the city stood to gain only minor economic benefits from the stadium, since a parcel behind the Ventura Auto Mall was selected as the most likely site.

“I don’t see why we should be any longer involved in this effort,” Little said before the meeting. “It’s not that I don’t like the idea of a stadium being built--I do. It is just that it doesn’t pencil for Camarillo.”

Jack Tingstrom, a Ventura city councilman who is spearheading the effort to build the stadium, was disappointed by Camarillo’s decision.

“I am saddened by the fact that we, as three neighboring cities, couldn’t come together for this, but I understand their reasons,” Tingstrom said.

Tingstrom, along with Oxnard City Councilman Bedford Pinkard, said they will pursue financing from private individuals and possibly launch a redevelopment zone to raise the needed financing for the facility.

“Losing Camarillo will definitely hurt, but we are determined to go forward,” Pinkard said. “I think we still have some alternatives left to our disposal.”

Little said Ventura could create a redevelopment district to help pay for the stadium, and that Camarillo should stay out of that sort of decision.

“If they go that route, the whole idea of the stadium will become submerged in a much larger community issue,” Little said.

Richard Lundberg, a Camarillo resident who led a campaign against the stadium, said Wednesday he was pleased with the council’s decision.

“We had no business being involved in this thing from the first place,” Lundberg said. “I’m glad the council came to its senses on this.”

So far, the Camarillo council has authorized slightly more than $20,000 for initial studies of the $15.6-million stadium that would host a Single-A team from the California League during summers and would offer outdoor events and concerts the rest of the year.