Financing Hearing Set for Freeway Overpass

Oxnard on Tuesday is set to hold the second of two public hearings on a $15.8-million financing plan that would pay for a new Rose Avenue overpass spanning the Ventura Freeway.

The financing plan calls for the city to set up an assessment district that would levy area landowners based on how much traffic their developments generate. The district would not assess homeowners in the proposed 900-acre assessment area.

The existing two-lane overpass--which residents say creates traffic bottlenecks and poses a threat to children who cross it--has led the city to put at least one development in the area on hold.

Although city staff members had planned to ask the City Council to adopt the special assessment district on Tuesday, they said Friday that the action would be delayed. City Manager Tom Frutchey said a few property owners in the proposed assessment district have asked the city to study the levy rates.

Tuesday’s hearing is set for 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.