Design Board Approves Sycamore Village Master Plan

A developer’s master plan to build more than 150 residences on one of the last remaining large tracts of land on Ventura’s west side received qualified approval Monday evening from the city’s architectural review committee.

“Overall, you’ve done a really good job,” committee member Ted Temple told architect Scott Bulmer and developer Stan Bulmer, both from Los Angeles County.

With five color designs laid out across the front of the room showing housing, street and landscape layouts, the Ventura Design Review Committee discussed only the design aspects of the proposed development for 20 acres of lemon orchards owned by the Neel family.

The property is located west of the intersection of North Ventura Avenue and Shoshone Street, and is adjacent to Kinko’s international headquarters.

The proposed project, to be called Sycamore Village, will include 106 single-family homes, 50 condominiums, a 53,000-square-foot storage area for residents, a 3,800-square-foot library and community center, a segment of the Ventura River Trail and some Sycamore trees.

The houses would be a mixture of Mediterranean style, and what architects refer to as California coastal.

The Neel project drew attention last year after the Planning Commission initially failed to grant the project the housing allocations it needed, but the council later decided to borrow allocations set aside for downtown and grant them to the developer.

The housing allocations were given following negotiations between Councilman Ray Di Guilio and the Neel family, which resulted in a promise to build a badly needed west side library as part of the deal.

City staff will begin its environmental review of the project Wednesday. Bulmer, and his land consultant Steve Perlman, said they expect to begin construction by year’s end.