City Releases EIR for Golf Course Project

For the second time this year, officials are preparing to review a proposal to develop a large housing tract on farmland outside city limits.

Oxnard officials on Monday released a draft environmental study of the Northwest Golf Course Community Specific Plan. Unveiled earlier this year, the plan seeks to turn 330 acres near Victoria Avenue--most of which is designated as prime farmland--into a 454-home development and 18-hole golf course. About 250 of those acres are in unincorporated territory outside Oxnard and would need to be annexed prior to construction.

Though much smaller than the 3,165-home, 815-acre Southeast Plan, which lost the support of City Council members earlier this year, the Northwest Plan also touches on the hotly debated issue of farmland preservation. The environmental report points out that farmland loss is unavoidable under the plan.

So once again, officials are weighing the benefits of a new subdivision against the loss of agricultural land. As with the Southeast Plan, City Council members are taking their time to ponder the issue.

City Councilman Tom Holden said the Northwest Plan has many good points, such as the fact that the proposed golf course would cover a closed landfill. That would make a gateway area to the city much more attractive, he said.

But Holden also has proposed the city set “urban growth limits”--strict, long-term boundaries meant to protect open space. City Council members are set to discuss the urban limits next month. Holden said City Council members first should focus on whether the Northwest Plan area should be off-limits.

“We’re looking at potential boundaries that could lock us in for 20 years,” Holden said. “But one has to realize some development has to take place.”

Officials expect the development proposal to be discussed by the Planning Commission early next year. If planning commissioners approve the project, a vote by the City Council would follow.