Tract Homes Clear City Review Hurdle

Acting on a recommendation from the city’s environmental review committee, the City Council has agreed that constructing 105 tract homes in east Ventura will have minimal impact on the community.

The council late Monday approved the committee’s review of a subdivision proposed east of Saticoy Avenue by Wittenberg-Livingston Inc. of Newport Beach.

Only Councilman Gary Tuttle voted against the recommendation. Councilmen Jim Monahan and Steve Bennett were absent.

That decision means the home builders will not have to write an environmental impact report detailing the impacts the new neighborhood would have on the community.

Developers and city officials have studied the possible impacts of the subdivision over the past several months and concluded that any impacts would be minimal.

For example, analysts looked at the nearby road system to determine what any traffic increases would mean to existing residents. “There is adequate capacity in the adjacent street system to accommodate the additional volumes created by the project,” the declaration states.

Nor will the extra 200 or 300 residents in the neighborhood adversely impact the city’s ability to provide government services, the report concludes.

“The Police Department has indicated that the decreased ratio of police officers to residents could potentially affect services in the city, but that marginal decrease is not considered significant,” the report states.

There was virtually no discussion among council members prior to the vote late Monday.