Ventura Delays Vote on Raising Population Cap

City Council members postponed a decision Monday night on whether to raise the population limits as spelled out in Ventura’s Comprehensive Plan--the city’s blueprint for long-term development.

Currently, the city’s plan limits population to 105,874 for the year 2000, but the council was set to consider raising that cap to 110,000. The plan’s population maximum of 115,874 in 2010 would remain unchanged.

The increase for 2000 would compensate for 1,500 residential housing units that the council has already approved for construction but that have not yet been built.

The city uses the plan’s population targets to budget for long-term needs such as roads and schools and for services such as police and fire. Without accurate numbers, the city risks budgeting too little for necessary services.

Nearly two dozen people turned out to listen to the council. But before any of them could speak about the plan, the council voted 4 to 3 to wait until the Ventura Unified School District releases its Long Range School Facilities Plan--due out by year’s end.

“If we are going to be asked to make an important decision, we need all the facts and figures in front of us,” Councilman Jim Friedman said. “But we don’t have all that. . . . We don’t have the schools report.”

Educational facilities have become a major factor limiting growth in recent years. Schools in Ventura--especially at the elementary level--are already strained to capacity. This year’s statewide class-size reduction initiative, concentrated in kindergarten through third grade, only exacerbated the problem.

Council members Rosa Lee Measures, Steve Bennett and Ray Di Guilio urged the council to let residents speak and to move forward with a decision now.

Tim Ferguson, an east Ventura resident, said he spent the day at City Hall poring over the Comprehensive Plan in preparation for Monday night’s meeting. He left the meeting frustrated, his file of papers untouched.

“I think it’s wrong,” Ferguson said. “I have documents, page numbers and facts. . . . This was my opportunity to speak to them before they go back and make any decisions.”

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The council also voted unanimously to postpone modifying the city’s related Residential Growth Management Plan--the document that actually controls how growth takes place--until the schools report comes out.

The school board is scheduled to meet with the council on Jan. 13 to discuss its Long Range School Facilities Plan.

The council agreed to vote on the Comprehensive Plan’s population cap as soon as possible after the joint meeting.