Developer, Rio District Agree on Settlement : Construction: Schools to receive $48,000 over impact of proposed 15-story office tower at Oxnard Financial Center.

Attorneys for Martin V. (Bud) Smith have reached a tentative settlement with the Rio School District, which sued the Oxnard real estate developer two years ago, seeking payment because of the impact a new 15-story office tower would purportedly have on local schools.

The settlement would provide the district with $48,000, or 16 cents for every square foot of Smith’s third tower at the Oxnard Financial Center, said district Supt. Peter Rogalsky.

But as the tentative settlement goes to the Rio school board this evening, Smith’s attorney said the agreement will bring the district only about $3,300 more than it was guaranteed by state law before it filed a lawsuit in 1993.

“We have agreed to pay $3,300 more than if we had never got involved with this,” lawyer Stanley E. Cohen said. “I can spend and they can spend more than that just sitting around and talking for a couple of hours. I agreed to the $3,300 without batting an eye.”

In addition to the school board, a final settlement must also be approved by the Oxnard City Council and Smith. The city, which has approved the 300,000-square-foot office tower, is one of the co-defendants in the Superior Court case.

Though approved two years ago, no construction on the tower has occurred.

“It wasn’t our intent to stop development in the city of Oxnard,” Rogalsky said. “We only wanted to ensure that the impacts of development on our district were properly dealt with.”

The 2,800-student Rio district, which has five schools in or near Oxnard, sued the city and Smith, alleging that the city had approved Smith’s third tower at Vineyard Avenue and the Ventura Freeway without addressing its effect on schools.

School officials estimated that the tower would lure 200 students to the district and eventually cost it $4 million.

The tentative deal would also pertain to Smith’s giant Wagon Wheel project, which is in the Rio district as well, both sides agreed.

Last year, a Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Smith and the city, but the school district appealed. A hearing is scheduled in the 2nd District Court of Appeal for April 12.

Attorneys for the schools, Oxnard and Smith have been working toward a settlement for three weeks to end the costly court battle.

Under the tentative agreement, Oxnard would have to chip in with the district to purchase land near the city’s California Cove neighborhood for a park and school, Rogalsky said. He said he was not sure how much Oxnard would pay. City lawyer Steve Zimmer did not return phone calls Tuesday.

Rogalsky said the agreement is similar to one reached by Oxnard school districts and the city for development in northeast Oxnard.

“We’re not talking about big bucks here,” the superintendent said.