Landscaping in High Gear : Camarillo Spruces Up Street Medians, Sidewalks in Beautification Project

The jackhammers and construction work are almost incessant, at least during daylight hours.

But most residents of this usually quiet neighborhood north of Las Posas Road welcome the intrusion as an investment that will pay off before the year is out.

By the time work crews finish, vines will dangle from the sound walls lining Temple Avenue, and medians cutting through the busiest streets will boast new trees and a drip irrigation system.

The work is all part of a $350,000 landscaping program to beautify sections of Camarillo by replanting street medians and sidewalks with lush vegetation.

“This provides continuity for the existing landscaping throughout the city,” said Sonny Murillo, the city engineer overseeing the project.

“Because of what we’ve been doing, the neighborhoods are more pleasing to the people who live here. It beautifies the whole city.”

Before the two-month project is completed, crews will have planted dozens of jacaranda, liquid amber and tulip trees along some of the major thoroughfares that slice through Camarillo.

Along streets such as Temple Avenue, where the project got underway earlier this week, landscapers are ripping up blocks of sidewalks cracked by roots.

“You can see how the roots buckle up the street and pose a hazard,” said Scott Mier, a foreman with Cascade Sprinklers of Moorpark, which won the $350,000 contract last month.

“The new landscaping won’t do that,” he said. “This way, the city can incorporate aesthetics and practicality.”

Mayor David Smith said the cost of landscaping sections of Temple Avenue, Carmen Drive, and Adolfo and Upland roads is well worth the money.

“We’ve had a long-term policy of making improvements to the landscaping as the city can afford them,” Smith said.

“The issue of how the city looks as we drive through it is directly related to people’s pride. When the shrubs and trees look dead, it makes people think it’s not a very attentive community.

“When the streets are healthy and watered properly, it instills the same pride people have in their own yards,” he said.

Murillo called the contract a good deal, saying that the irrigation system and low-maintenance plants would reduce ongoing labor costs.

In their 1996-97 general budget, Camarillo officials earmarked $733,900 for new landscaping projects and $321,000 for ongoing maintenance--money that residents view with differing perspectives.

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Mark Godfrey was not sure that the construction noise and expense in his neighborhood would pay off.

“I guess they have nothing else to do with the money,” Godfrey, a wholesale distributor who lives on nearby Lemon Drive, said Thursday. “But I’m sure it will look nice once it’s finished.”

But Bill Persons cheered the landscaping, even if the jackhammers pound behind his Via Tomas home much of the day.

“I think it’s a very small price to pay,” said Persons, a Camarillo dentist. “I’m in business here and I pay taxes, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s money well spent.”

When Temple Avenue is comleted, new magnolia and tulip trees will dot the thoroughfare, with vines and slope planting decorating the now bare sound walls.

“I think it will be beautiful when it’s done,” Persons said.