Port District Proposes Housing to Ease Money Woes

Bankrupt and facing the prospect of court-ordered debt payments, the Ventura Port District wants to drum up money by building 300 residences at the northeast end of the city’s harbor.

The proposed development--a dense, 20-acre complex of beachfront apartments or condominiums--would create a year-round clientele for Ventura Harbor Village, which virtually shuts down during winter months.

Having filed for bankruptcy three years ago, the port district has been searching for new sources of revenue and fighting in court to keep creditors from seizing its assets.

“The viability of the harbor depends on the development of this parcel,” port district General Manager Richard Parsons said. “We need that property developed.”

Parsons said the development, which could take years to come about, would not necessarily threaten plans for a $25-million marine education center already proposed for the site.

“We don’t view this as foreclosing the marine center but as providing another option for us,” Parsons said. “It might even be possible to do a combination of both.”

In 1994, a Montecito entrepreneur received $35,000 from the city for conceptual development of the marine center. He will present a feasibility study to the City Council next month.

“The groundwork has been laid in terms of conceptual development,” said Jim Walker, a community affairs manager for the city. “The real hurdle remains where the capital will come from.”

Since the proposed marine center would only cover eight acres, Parsons said both projects could go forward. The housing development would not occupy the entire 20-acre site, located at the terminus of Anchors Way and Schooner Drive.

The project still needs a developer and an approved housing allocation from the City Council, a process that occurs only once every two years.

“The reality is, I don’t think we would get this built this century,” Parsons said. “Our attitude is, we will be able to make a much better deal [with a developer] once we get the zoning on here.”

On Tuesday, district officials won approval from the city’s Planning Commission for zoning and land-use changes needed to built residences on the beachfront property.

The zoning changes must also be approved by the City Council and the California Coastal Commission.

Various developments have been proposed for the site over the last 17 years, including a commercial shopping center and a hotel.

But residential development is a new idea for the harbor, city planner Marion Thompson said.

“When the port district was formed, there was never any thought of having residential development,” Thompson said. As a result, the city’s chief planning document says the harbor area should be used for recreational and commercial boating--not housing.

But the fishing dock has changed dramatically since it was established in 1952, relying more heavily on tourist dollars as a source of income.

Ventura Harbor Village has become a tourism gold mine for the port district during the summer, and officials are hopeful that the development of the nearby vacant property would sustain the commercial area during the off-season.

“Virtually every other harbor in Southern California has residential in it,” Parsons said.