OXNARD : Development Study Likely to Continue

Although the developer of a 5,000-house development at Ormond Beach has filed for bankruptcy protection, Oxnard officials said Wednesday that they expect environmental studies of the proposed project to be completed.

The City Council on Tuesday authorized a city-selected consultant, Impact Sciences Inc. of Thousand Oaks, to move forward with an environmental study of four proposals for the 1,400-acre site.

Earlier Tuesday, Newport Beach-based Baldwin Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization following a decision by G.E. Capital Corp., the company’s major lender, to cut off Baldwin’s $60-million line of credit.

City officials said Baldwin is paying for the $508,392 study.

“If they are not solvent, they could not proceed with the development,” Mayor Manuel Lopez said. “But to do an environmental impact report, they have to furnish funds for the project. As long as they do that, we will proceed.”

Deanna Walsh, Oxnard’s coastal planner, said Baldwin has already paid $220,000 for the study. Another payment is due next week.

“I’m confident they will pay it,” Walsh said. “Otherwise the environmental impact report will stop.”

The most ambitious Ormond Beach proposal discussed Tuesday included 5,000 homes, an 18-hole golf course, shopping center, eco-tourist area and an offshore marina. According to Walsh, the Baldwin Co. owns about one-third of the land in the Ormond Beach parcel and has options for most of the remaining land.

The Baldwin Co. told The Times on Tuesday that the bankruptcy filing will not affect the project.

Ormond Beach is home to several protected species, including the tidewater goby fish, California least tern, western snowy plover and California brown pelican. Environmental activists have lobbied to stop development south of Hueneme Road.

“To go forward with the development as it’s been modeled . . . would totally destroy the wetlands,” said Al Sanders, chairman of a local Sierra Club chapter.