Port District Granted Zoning to Build Homes on Waterfront Property

The City Council on Monday approved a request from the Ventura Port District to change the zoning on waterfront property near the harbor entrance to allow the construction of as many as 300 houses.

The port district has waited five years to develop the vacant 20-acre parcel, located on a spit of land that reaches into the middle of the harbor off Schooner Drive and Anchors Way. The harbor asked the City Council to change the zoning earlier this year, but the decision was postponed after council members questioned whether homes would be the best use for the land.

But at their meeting Monday, city leaders agreed to change the zoning and let the district come back with a more complete proposal.

“It looks like a good plan,” said Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures.

Councilman Ray Di Guilio praised the port district’s effort to resolve their long-term financial troubles. “I too support what is going on here, which is giving options,” he said.

Harbor officials say the zoning change will give the agency more flexibility to pursue a residential development in addition to various other proposals being considered for the site.

“We’re thrilled,” said Port Commissioner Gary Jacobs after the unanimous vote. “It gives us and the city of Ventura options and flexibility in the future for what may be the only empty large parcel in Southern California that is on a harbor.”

The council also approved a separate action to change the zoning for Marina Mobile Home Park, which has been operating under the wrong classification for several years.

The zoning changes for both pieces of property still must be approved by the California Coastal Commission.

During the last 17 years, a number of developments have been proposed for the harbor site, including a shopping center, a hotel and, most recently, a $25-million marine education center. Port commissioners have also suggested a convention center for the land.

Port District General Manager Richard Parsons told the council that a housing development would not threaten any other project being considered, and could be paired with another proposal, such as the marine center.

Port commissioners have warmed to the residential idea more than others because of a 1991 marketing study that concluded the best use for the land would be condominiums or some other type of dwellings.

A housing complex would generate year-round clientele for Ventura Harbor Village, officials say, stabilizing businesses and funneling money into the financially strapped district, which filed for bankruptcy three years ago.

“From a market prospective,” Parsons said, “residential is the highest and best use.”

Because there is a long lead time involved in getting zoning and other land-use changes approved, the district’s commissioners felt they needed to start pursuing a housing development now, Parsons said.

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

Because of the number of bureaucratic hoops the agency must jump through, Parsons said: “I don’t see there being any construction out there until the next century.”