Oxnard Commission Urged to Reject 3,165-Home Project

Calling a proposed 3,165-home development “the big one,” environmentalists and farmland preservationists pleaded with the Oxnard Planning Commission Thursday night to turn down a proposal to build a residential community on 815 acres of prime farmland.

Without taking action, the commission members listened intently as city staff explained the project and dozens of speakers--the majority who opposed the plan--voiced their opinions.

“This proposed project is a perfect example of a planning nightmare,” said Brad Smith, representing the Ventura County League of Women Voters. “Why are we considering an outgrowth . . . when there are thousands of acres available within the city of Oxnard?”

The proposed development, which calls for restaurants, schools, a fire station and 3,165 single family homes and townhomes, would pave over farmland that is currently within a greenbelt shared by Oxnard and Camarillo.

Some of the property would also have to be annexed from the county.

“Think of the fiscal impact to the city,” said activist Jean Harris, who supports farmland preservation. “Housing no longer pays for itself. We benefit when we keep our land in agriculture.”

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The commission hearing was to review a draft report on the environmental impact of the Southeast Community Plan. Testimony from Thursday’s meeting, along with other comments made about the report through Monday, will be included in the final version of the environmental report, which would then return to the Planning Commission for a certification vote.

If the final environmental report is certified and the project is subsequently approved, then the project would go before the Oxnard City Council and finally the Local Agency Formation Commission, which would have to approve any needed annexation.

Camarillo also would have to approve of Oxnard’s plans to swap 815 of its acres currently in the greenbelt for the same amount of acreage elsewhere.

At Thursday’s meeting, several speakers said the environmental report--which one called “full of big, glaring holes”--should be withdrawn and rewritten because the public was note given sufficient time to comment.

City planners say the proposal, which is part of the city’s 2020 General Plan to accommodate growth, will help alleviate growth problems in Oxnard by building two new schools, generating money to add more police, enlarging overstressed sewage lines and broadening streets.

Consultant Dave Sargent, who designed the Southeast Community Plan for Oxnard, said his emphasis was on creating a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood where residents would walk to schools, parks, and nearby merchants.

“This offers an antidote for the sort of urban sprawl that some of the speakers mentioned that they are opposed to.”

The proposed community would be bounded by 5th Street on the north, Rice Avenue on the east, Rose Avenue to the west and Pacific Coast Highway on the south. The plans call for expanding Rice into a “six-lane expressway” that would connect with Pacific Coast Highway, according to Sargent.

The plan includes six neighborhoods with parks, retail shops, and housing for an estimated 11,000 residents.

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In addition, there are plans to build the Pacific Ag Expo, a 90-acre amusement park and exhibit area that would educate visitors on the value of food-product industries in the county. The Pacific Ag Expo is the brainchild of Dave White, owner of Ag Land Services.

Spokeswoman Iva Grant said the Pacific Ag Expo would contribute significantly to Oxnard and would help promote agriculture.

Carol Lavender, director of tourism for the city of Oxnard, said Pacific Ag Expo would attract tourists. “Oxnard needs tourism. We need a hook, and the Pacific Ag Expo would give Oxnard a positive image for tourists.”

In a telephone interview Thursday, Peter Brand, a project manager for the Coastal Conservancy, a state agency that advocates preservation, said the best way to show the value of farmland is to preserve it.

Statewide, the Coastal Conservancy has helped set up agricultural land preservation trusts where farmers can voluntarily sell the development rights on their properties to the trust rather than sell the land to developers. For example, in Marin County more than 25,000 acres of farmland have been placed in conservation trusts, Brand said.

“Many people would take this proposal--and Ag Land Services’ claim that the project is good for agriculture--a lot more seriously if they were also talking about helping the land trust put another 815 acres of farmland under permanent conservation easements,” he said.