Expansion of Shopping at the Rose OKd

Despite lingering concerns about traffic and noise, the City Council on Tuesday approved the 23,275-square-foot expansion of a Rose Avenue shopping complex along the Ventura Freeway.

The council voted 4 to 1 to allow Cleveland-based Office Max Inc. to build an office-supply store at the Shopping at the Rose II center. Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez cast the lone vote against the project.

Some Oxnard residents and the Rio School District have opposed the expansion, saying traffic caused by the new development would overburden the two-lane overpass spanning the Ventura Freeway at Rose Avenue.

Oxnard City Manager Tom Frutchey and the school district filed an appeal on the project earlier this year, but the council voted Tuesday to overturn it. Frutchey and the district had argued that it would be premature to allow more development in the area without securing financing to build a six-lane overpass.

But City Council members said officials had made sufficient headway toward financing construction of the new $15.8-million structure. Despite delays, city officials said they are close to setting up a special assessment district to help pay for a wider bridge.