Ventura Votes to Rezone Land for Commercial and Residential Use : Council: Some business owners from the Ventura Avenue area fear future homeowners may drive them out with complaints about noise and odor.

After lengthy debate over whether homes should be allowed in a noisy industrial neighborhood, the Ventura City Council has agreed to rezone 58 acres near Ventura Avenue for commercial and residential use.

But some nearby business owners stormed out of the council chambers late Monday, vowing to file suit. “We’ll see you in court,” shouted Don Clark.

Executives at Kinko’s Corp. and representatives of the Neel and Huntsinger family trusts, which own most of the property near Stanley and Ventura avenues, requested the change to allow for 100 or more homes and businesses.

Kinko’s officials said they need 60,000 to 100,000 square feet of new office space to allow for the eventual expansion of its corporate headquarters. The two families want to develop their property with homes and businesses.

More than 25 acres of farmland also would be annexed into the city under the 58-acre plan approved Monday night.

The 5-1 vote came against the wishes of Councilman Jim Monahan, who proposed allowing only commercial zoning on the land. Mayor Tom Buford, who represents clients in the area, withdrew from the debate.

But a majority of council members could not resist the $20 million or more that the Neel and Huntsinger families promised to pump into the city’s poorest neighborhood.

“The critical issue is to make sure we hold on to Kinko’s and encourage them to expand,” Councilman Steve Bennett said before Monday’s vote.

“Kinko’s-type businesses are the businesses of the 21st Century,” he said. “We have to encourage that kind of business if we want to protect the quality of life in Ventura.”

A group of Ventura Avenue business owners called Citizens to Preserve Industry opposed the rezoning, saying future homeowners could drive them from the area with complaints about the noise and smell of their operations.

Clark, who owns an engineering firm nearby, said he will probably move his company and its 50 jobs away from Ventura because the homeowners would drive him out sooner or later.

“It’s inevitable that I won’t be here,” he said. “And the longer I stay here, the less my property will be worth.”

Others complained that the area is too close to an abandoned toxic-waste dump, which will pose serious health threats to anyone who moves in.

“We found over 19 million gallons of documented waste that were deposited in the sumps 800 feet from the planned development,” said Robert Cashier, an environmental consultant retained by the Citizens to Preserve Industry.

“It’s not just political toxicity,” said Cashier, who worked on the recently settled Oxnard Dunes lawsuits. “The city has knowledge that these dumps are sitting there, and they’re postponing their liability.”

But the council relied on a decision by the Regional Water Quality Control Board in Los Angeles, which found no evidence of ground-water contamination after samples were submitted by the developers.

Cashier, however, complained that analysts dug only 13 feet when they collected samples. “Ground water is at 25 feet and deeper,” he said. “It’s never been tested.”