Vote on Growth Plan Provision Delayed

The Ventura City Council has voted to delay adding a provision to the city’s growth plan that would require the council to consider school crowding before approving new housing projects.

Officials said they want a special task force made up of council members, school officials and planning commissioners to perfect the wording on the provision before taking a final vote on the issue.

On Monday night, council members selected Councilmen Steve Bennett, who has spearheaded the push to consider school capacity in development, and Ray Di Guilio to represent them on the task force.

The council expects to vote on a final amendment to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, a blueprint for development, on Oct. 27.

In August, the council agreed that the Comprehensive Plan should be amended, but discussions on the proper wording have foundered since then.

Last week, the Planning Commission strengthened an earlier proposed amendment. But Everett Millais, director of community services, urged the council to take more time to hammer out proper language, warning that a strongly worded amendment “could lead to a de facto residential moratorium” in the city.

Schools Supt. Joseph Spirito and school board member John Walker told the council Monday night that they favored the original, less restrictive language.

“We don’t want language that puts us at odds with each other,” Walker told the council. “We do not want to inhibit growth. We want language that leaves a lot of room.”