Give Amphitheater Plan the Hook

One of the perversities of trying to run a public entity these days is the temptation to get into a business that has very little to do with your own.

Looking around Ventura County, we see the port district angling unsuccessfully to build 300 apartments along the harbor waterfront. The creators of Cal State University Channel Islands want permission to build housing developments to generate capital. And the county parks department is hoping to help cover its costs by building a 16,000-seat amphitheater and a golf course in Camarillo Regional Park.

While the golf course may or may not have merits that outweigh the environmental concerns, anyone who has ever been to an outdoor concert can see that this is the wrong place for an amphitheater.

Start with access. The proposed site is reachable only by Lewis Road, which is two lanes wide and has no freeway ramp. Even if concert-goers dodged the crush by coming early for a tailgate picnic, there would be no escaping the nightmare that would await after the final ovation.

Concert promoters would be required to hire police for traffic control but, in the words of a member of one of the numerous local groups concerned about the plan, “You could have so many cops out there that they themselves would cause a traffic jam and it would still only be a two-lane road.”

And traffic on the ground may be less of a problem than traffic overhead.

At a recent hearing, a representative of the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station pointed out that the proposed amphitheater would sit in the flight path of the base’s runway. Navy planes, including C-130s, fly 1,000 feet above and 100 feet to the side of the site as often as 10 times an hour, night and day.

That’s bad if you’re moshing to the Offspring; worse if you’re cuddling to Kenny G.

The Times applauds the efforts of parks officials to find user-friendly ways to pay their own way. We also welcome performing arts facilities that will bring top acts to Ventura County in settings that will promise many years of enjoyable evenings.

But now is a good time to play a finale for this flawed plan.