City Moves to Expand Boundaries

Santa Paula will apply to expand its boundaries into four of six undeveloped areas around the city.

The City Council took the action on a 4-1 vote earlier this week.

City officials will seek approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission--an independent agency that determines municipal boundaries--to expand into two canyons north of the city and two other areas to the east and west.

Several weeks ago the council hired a consultant to help it guide the four areas through the complex process.

As expected, the council eliminated from its expansion plans 541 acres of prime agricultural land in the greenbelt between the city and Fillmore and a 1,292-acre tract south of the Santa Clara River.

“You don’t stand a chance of getting those past LAFCO,” Councilman Jim Garfield said. “I’ve been in favor of doing hillside and canyon development and leaving the valley floor alone.”

If approved by LAFCO, the expansion area would total about 7,700 acres. About 2,700 homes, two hotels with golf courses and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial and industrial space could be built. An initiative on the fall ballot intended to limit urban development, however, would cause those plans to be drastically reduced if it passes.

Councilwoman Laura Flores Espinosa cast the only vote against the council’s expansion proposal.

The two areas the council eliminated could be taken to LAFCO at a later date. Mayor Don Johnson, however, has requested that city staff members investigate the possibility of eliminating the two contentious areas as possible development areas entirely.