Request to Rezone Farmland Denied

Pro-farming interests and environmentalists won a rare victory as the Camarillo City Council refused to rezone nearly 300 acres of farmland for commercial and residential use.

The unanimous decision came late Wednesday after a four-hour public hearing that ended near midnight.

After emotional speeches from pilots who use Camarillo Airport and from others concerned about the loss of agricultural land, council members rejected the application to approve the 290-acre Ponderosa Corridor Specific Plan.

The thick planning document would have mapped out room for 1,850 homes and scores of retail stores and offices.

“No need has been demonstrated for this project,” Councilman Ken Gose said. “We certainly have enough homes for sale now and there are hundreds more on the drawing board.”

City planners spent two years preparing the detailed blueprint. But Planning Director Matthew A. Boden said the effort came at no cost to taxpayers because the applicant--Ran Rancho & Associates--was required to reimburse the city for its planning expenses.

Boden estimated that Ran Rancho spent more than $200,000 on the Ponderosa Corridor Specific Plan, but he was unable on Thursday to say how much the city had been repaid.

More than a dozen speakers urged the council to reject the specific plan.

Mayor David M. Smith said the new homes would not be worth paving over prime agricultural property. “What we would be getting is not as good as what we would be giving up,” Smith said.