Oxnard Considering Coastal Land Purchase

Where development of pristine Ormond Beach is concerned, this city wants to reserve the first spot in line.

It may well be that the city will decide not to shell out several million dollars to buy 212 acres of prime coastal land near the southern end of Saviers Road.

But at a special meeting Saturday, the City Council bought at least a month to make that decision, by exercising its right of first refusal on the property in south Oxnard.

The move guarantees the city a voice in how the sensitive wetland is eventually developed.

“The city’s role is to ensure that whatever is proposed for that area is in keeping with the city’s ideals,” City Manager Edmund F. Sotelo said.

The city has no particular designs on the site, Sotelo said. But buying the land, which is being eyed by the Metropolitan Water District for a desalination plant and is also being considered for a film production complex, could help the city woo both appealing projects.

“We have not come up with a specific development proposal” for the site, Sotelo said. “But we have been working at some potential projects out there.”

Chief among them is a proposal to turn 117 acres in the area into a $90-million studio called the Film Factory, envisioned as a hub of sound stages and other entertainment necessities.

The land available is large enough to accommodate the desalination plant and the film project while setting aside dozens of acres for wetlands preservation.

The Metropolitan Water District is in escrow with housing developer New Millennium to buy 308 acres, and water district representatives said at Saturday’s meeting that they would be happy to deal with the city.

Sotelo said city staff members intend to meet with the key players within the water district in hopes of reaching an agreement.

New Millennium is the successor company to an Orange County developer, the Baldwin Co., that wanted to build up to 5,000 luxury beachfront homes on the 400 acres it owned. But Baldwin went bankrupt before building began.

The city will ask New Millennium for a couple weeks to discuss the matter with the water district before the 30-day buy-it-or-lose-it clock begins ticking.

The city could purchase the land without endangering the rest of its budget by using redevelopment funds, according to a city staff report. Or it could decline to buy the property if the water district and the studio developer agree to cooperate with the city.

The Ormond Beach area has been the setting for many lofty development plans that have never reached fruition. The area is valued by environmentalists because it is one of the few remaining large undeveloped wetlands along the Southern California coast.