Panel OKs Plan to Expand Ventura Renewal Zone : Proposal to Add About 135 Acres to Downtown Redevelopment Area Will Be Sent to City Council for Review

Seeking to raise money for future projects in downtown Ventura, the city’s Planning Commission has approved a recommendation to nearly double the commercial core’s redevelopment zone.

Under the recommendation, approved 4 to 1 late Tuesday, with two panel members abstaining, the plan will be forwarded to the Ventura City Council for consideration later this spring.

“We have an opportunity to really improve the entire downtown area, rather than just a selected area,” said Ingrid Elsel, who chairs the Planning Commission. “This will make more money available to make that possible.”

Redevelopment areas are neighborhoods designated by city planners as blighted and in need of investment or revitalization.

Upon approval by city officials, any new property tax revenues generated within the area are diverted to a special fund, against which cities often issue bonds to finance public improvements or spur private development.

The existing redevelopment area has generated about $25 million, most of which already has been spent. The addition would generate $90 million or more over the next 30 years, city planner Patrick Richardson said.

But Planning Commissioner Michael Jones, who cast the opposing vote, said he believes the existing redevelopment area is less successful than it could have been. Jones said the city should worry about the vacant land in the existing zone.

“We should follow those policies that have been proven successful, and so far the policies of this redevelopment agency have not done that,” Jones said. “I’m very leery of this.”

Planning officials Sandy Smith and Lynn Jacobs both abstained from the vote because they have business interests within the area.

The existing redevelopment area covers 155 acres between California 33 and Palm Street, and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks and north of Main Street.

Some of the projects completed by the agency since it was formed in 1978 include the Mission Plaza shopping center at Ventura Avenue and the state Court of Appeal building that opened on Santa Clara Avenue last year.

In both instances, the city acquired a series of parcels to assemble the acreage, then sold the land to developers, Richardson said.

The new area would include about 135 acres: 20 square blocks between the railroad tracks and Poli Street and Ash and Palm streets, as well as a dogleg between San Jon Road and Harbor Boulevard.

If approved in June by the City Council, as the Redevelopment Agency, city leaders face some difficult decisions about where to invest the new tax revenues.

Developers have pitched a number of projects within the downtown area, including a multiplex cinema at California and Palm streets, an upscale shopping center at the historic Peirano Building on Main Street and a plan to build shops, offices and apartments near the San Buenaventura Mission.

Each of those developments would require the help of the city Redevelopment Agency, said Councilman Gregory L. Carson, who chairs the agency.

“We’re trying to create an atmosphere to stimulate private investment,” Carson said of the plan to expand the redevelopment area. “We’ve got to be players in some of those projects. With the dollars and property that we have, we’re going to be able to do some deals.”