Corporate Expansion Bid Faces Fight

A sprawling tract of land on North Ventura Avenue would be rezoned to allow for a huge expansion of Kinko’s corporate headquarters and scores of new homes and businesses, under a plan to be considered by the Ventura City Council on Monday.

While staff planners recommend that the proposal be approved, nearly two dozen neighboring landowners are gearing up for a fight.

The rezoning plan, which stalled last summer after nearby property owners vehemently opposed the project, also would involve annexing about half of the 58 acres from the county into the city limits.

Proponents have since scaled back their plan from 77 to 58 acres, a move that excluded the Ventura Avenue properties owned by those who opposed changing the zoning from industrial to commercial and residential.

City staff members and project supporters say the plan is an opportunity to infuse millions of dollars worth of private investment into the area, which has been the hub of industrial activity in Ventura for generations.

They envision more than 100 residences and businesses on the acreage between California 33 and Ventura Avenue, north of Stanley Avenue and south of Seneca Street.

But business owners, calling themselves Citizens to Preserve Industry, said the proposal could cripple their operations by allowing housing so close to the mostly oil-related companies.

Friday, the group formally asked the City Council to delay considering the rezoning and annexation for two months.

“Some of the people in this group were just notified of the meeting this week,” said Ellen Clark, one of the owners of Clark Engineering at 2235 N. Ventura Ave.

“We don’t have enough time to form a plan of attack,” she said.

Like other members of the homespun coalition, Clark fears that future home buyers will complain about the noise and smell of the companies’ operations.

“We don’t want homes in the middle of an industrial section,” she said. “It’s not conducive to heavy industry.”

The 58 acres consist of nearly a dozen lots owned by Kinko’s, Southern Pacific, Vetco and the Huntsinger and Neel families.

Kinko’s executives told city officials they need the rezoning to accommodate possible expansion of the copying company’s corporate offices by 60,000 to 100,000 square feet.

“Whether or not that (rezoning) is something we would take advantage of now we can’t commit to, but it would give us the opportunity,” said Gail Michalak, a Kinko’s spokeswoman.

“We have outgrown our building, and the more options we have to expand, the more we can take into consideration what’s best at the time,” she said.

The company employs about 600 people in Ventura County.

Representatives of the Huntsinger and Neel families said housing and businesses could easily fit in with the existing industries.

“This plan is by far the best proposal that’s ever been presented,” said Steve Perlman, a land-use consultant who represents the applicants. “There are plenty of people in this community that already live in the area.”

Bill Neel, one of the property owners seeking the rezoning, said the area is well-known for its blend of industry, business and residences.

“We felt very comfortable with that,” Neel said. “The Avenue has always been a mixed community. The hottest issue among urban planners in the U. S. these days is having a mix of uses.

“Houses and industry have been and are mixed to this day from Main Street and Meta Street all the way up Ventura Avenue,” he said.

Attorney Glen M. Reiser, who represents the 20 or so landowners opposing the zoning change, said he would ask the council to force the developers to warn potential home buyers that the nearby operations are loud, smelly and operate 24 hours a day.

“Without a realistic buffer between the existing industrial uses and the proposed residential uses, it’s not going to be very long until the residents start complaining,” Reiser said.

Reiser complained last year that much of the area is contaminated by toxic waste left over from previous businesses. An independent consultant later filed a declaration with the city confirming Reiser’s claim.

City officials, however, said the state Water Quality Control Board reviewed the complaint and dismissed it as unfounded.

“But when anyone comes back in for a development permit, we’re going back in for a more detailed environmental review,” assistant planner Phil Johnson said.

Councilman Gregory L. Carson said he has not made up his mind on the rezoning plan. But he added that putting houses next to heavy industry does not usually make sense.

“We’ve learned in the past that we shouldn’t do hodgepodge planning, and this appears to be hodgepodge planning,” Carson said.