SOAR Initiatives

OK, I admit it. I’m a developer.

(In 16th century New England, I would probably have to wear a scarlet “D” on my shirt as a warning to others and a punishment to myself.)

Guess what? I oppose the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiatives. But for reasons that might surprise you.

I think SOAR might actually be good for my business. My company has had our best successes in counties such as Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo where the development processes are very difficult, expensive and time consuming. The reason? With that type of limited supply there is pent-up a demand for housing, prices are supported and competition between home builders is limited. Those things are good for the indigenous home builder and they help to keep the out-of-area, publicly traded, low-margin builder out of the market. It’s not necessarily good for the home buyer because it means that home prices are higher.

So why do I oppose the SOAR initiative? SOAR is a step in the direction of what we have seen in other sectors of government, such as schools, where more distant forms of government become the decision makers and take control away from the citizens most directly affected by those decisions. SOAR would require a vote of the entire county for a change in planning in any of the cities in the county.

For the 26 years that I have lived and worked in Ventura, whenever someone wanted to stir the thoughtless portion of the electorate they have cried, “Don’t let Ventura County become another Orange County.” Look around you. Development in this county has been orderly and agriculture continues to be among the county’s leading industries. This is because our processes have worked.

This initiative is very shortsighted and yet it would be effective for a very long time. It would leave us no alternatives in the face of predictable as well as unanticipated consequences. It sets up inequitable decision-making processes on issues that have large impacts on small segments of our communities.

We have a lovely community here in Ventura County and, while we have had our share of growth, look around you. The system has worked and it will continue to work.

BOB FOWLER

Ventura

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The SOAR initiatives have appeared on our Nov. 3 ballots due to the need to protect our quality of life in Ventura County.

There was not one city in which the petition was circulated that it did not meet with overwhelming support. In Oxnard, the City Council voted to adopt the initiative without a petition. Moorpark will not have its on the ballot because lawyers from the opposition found a small error on the format of the petition and it had to be recirculated. It will now require a special election Jan. 12.

I personally was able to collect more than 1,000 signatures as a volunteer in Thousand Oaks. People thanked me over and over for my time and effort but they also regularly expressed concern that our efforts would be undermined by opposition. My response was always, “We can only try.”

Support for the initiative came from young and old and all walks of life, including farmers, ranchers and developers. In fact, I am working on SOAR’s phone banks alongside another volunteer. When we met she said, “My profession is in local development and construction, and no matter which way this goes, I win. But my real wish is to protect what we have, and that’s why I’m here now”.

At the rate that we are losing farmland and gaining concrete, there is not a moment to spare to bureaucratic whitewash solutions, such as Measure A. One editor made the comment that everyone who signed the petition become a watchdog for development. Well, even here in Thousand Oaks, where City Hall is big, it doesn’t have 10,000 seats for every Tuesday night City Council meeting.

SHARON NOEL

Thousand Oaks

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The most important issue to come before the voters of Ventura County in many years are the SOAR initiatives, which would require a vote by the people for approval of new projects on land zoned open space or agricultural.

This proposed process would demean the authority of our elected city councils and Board of Supervisors as well as the expertise of staff planners. This is like having brain surgery done by a banker, lawyer or engineer: They are trained but not for the task at hand.

I have been a practicing engineer in Ventura County since 1968, for the cities, developers and agencies. In my opinion, the past and present elected officials have done a commendable job in preserving our open space and farmland. They have established greenbelts and preserved open space by creating areas of interest and spheres of influence for all the cities, including establishing Guidelines for Orderly Development that restrict development to within the sphere of influence boundaries.

Moreover, since the ‘70s, the environmental process and growth-control ordinances in the cities have helped to maintain our open space and agricultural resources.

Growth is inevitable. We would all like to save open space and agricultural resources for our grandchildren to enjoy, but the SOAR initiatives are not the way to go. We have good planning and need the backbone to stick to those good plans.

ROBERT E. WARREN

Camarillo