Council OKs New SOAR Ballot Measure

Oxnard City Council members on Saturday voted 3 to 2 to place on the November ballot an amended growth-control measure that will replace a similar, less restrictive initiative previously approved by a unanimous vote.

The council agreed to let residents vote on a new local Save Open Space and Agriculture Resources measure that proponents say will more closely protect undeveloped land surrounding the city.

In April, the council voted 5 to 0 to place a SOAR-backed initiative on the ballot, but Saturday’s vote repealed that decision and replaced it with a measure that includes recommendations to create a joint powers agreement and a buffer zone to further control development.

The joint powers agreement would be among Oxnard, the county and the cities of Camarillo and Ventura and would allow Oxnard to stop undesirable uses of land circling the city, proponents said.

Mayor Manuel Lopez said the recommendations give the city’s SOAR measure “more teeth.”

“I am very pleased because the goal is to have defined cities, and it will put us in a better position to do that,” Lopez said after Saturday’s special meeting.

But Councilman Tom Holden, who along with Councilman Dean L. Maulhardt opposed the amended measure, said the new recommendations are misleading and unenforceable.

“There’s no legal basis for a joint powers agreement,” Holden said, adding that the amendments could place the entire SOAR in legal jeopardy if it passes.

He also said councilmen who voted in favor of the amended measure had acted in “bad faith” because their decision flew in the face of what local SOAR committee members wanted.

“It’s fair to say I’m concerned. We had an agreement with SOAR to place the initiative on the ballot, and then we rescinded that agreement and then changed the initiative,” Holden said.