Oxnard Will Consider Strict Growth Limits

Ventura County’s largest city has taken a big step toward preserving farmland with a majority of City Council members expressing interest in a slow-growth tool known as urban growth boundaries.

Dozens of residents at a special meeting Wednesday night--alarmed by the city’s plans to add nearly 4,000 homes and annex 1,100 acres of farmland--urged City Council members and planning commissioners to make development of agricultural land more difficult. Afterward, four of five council members said the city needs to study development limits.

Mayor Manuel Lopez and City Councilmen John Zaragoza, Tom Holden and Dean Maulhardt all said they favor further exploration of growth limits. Councilman Bedford Pinkard did not speak at length about the issue.

Described as a promise by city officials not to develop beyond certain limits for a set period of time, urban growth boundaries have been used mostly in Northern California.

Urban planners say the boundaries are much stricter than standard growth limitations such as spheres of influence and greenbelts.

Spheres of influence, for example, are zones outside city limits designated for future growth that can be easily enlarged by municipal officials. Urban growth limits, however, are usually set for 20 to 30 years.

By setting limits that are not easily changed, cities can remove some of the controversial political situations that accompany proposals to develop open space, proponents say.

Such boundaries were proposed for Thousand Oaks by slow-growth council members earlier this year, but the plan fizzled out when a council majority said that the city already had proper planning measures in place.

City planners began Wednesday’s meeting by pointing out that growth in Oxnard has been modest in recent years. And they backed a key contention of farmland preservationists: That the city has plenty of open space already within its bounds.

Now that Oxnard council members have shown an interest in limiting growth outside the city, city planners will draw up a detailed report on how the boundaries could be applied in Oxnard.

“Now the focus is, how do we determine where the boundaries are?” said City Planning Director Joyce Parker after the four-hour session in a packed council chamber.

That question is something that city officials say they will spend many months debating. Planners expect to have the first report to the council within 45 days.

Holden, the strongest backer thus far of the new growth limits, already has said the 815 acres of farmland designated for 3,165 homes and an agricultural theme park by the city’s Southeast Plan should be off-limits for development. He also has said no housing tracts should be allowed in the area south of Hueneme Road near Ormond Beach.

Holden and other officials received praise from environmentalists Wednesday night, winning applause for their support of stronger farmland preservation measures.

“It makes sense,” Holden said of the support for the new limits. “It allows us to address the concerns of the residents, and give them controlled, quality growth. What it does is provide a comfort level.”

After the meeting, Mayor Lopez tempered his support for the new measures by saying he does not want the city to lock itself into inflexible limits. He said officials may want to look at making the boundaries stick for about seven to 10 years, rather than the typical 20 to 30.