Initiative to Preserve Farmland Submitted
Anti-sprawl proponents submitted an initiative Friday to Oxnard’s city clerk that is designed to limit development of farmland in the Oxnard Plain.
The move comes three days after the City Council declined to act on a compromise plan--negotiated by members of the municipal staff and Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources--that would be submitted to voters in November.
Unlike that version, the 25-page initiative submitted Friday does not exempt two large housing developments outside the city’s sphere of influence.
“We don’t expect any changes in the opinions that were expressed by council members last Tuesday,” Oxnard SOAR Chairman Joe O’Neill said. “The time has come for some action to be taken because nothing else is working now.”
Once the initiative is formally accepted by the city, organizers plan to begin collecting the 6,100 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot.
SOAR also intends to place similar measures before voters in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark and the county’s unincorporated areas.
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