SOAR Debate

While I am glad The Times is devoting time and attention to the debate over the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiative, your coverage has had precious little information about exactly what SOAR would and would not do, but a lot of “sound bites” from both sides. The latter does nothing to further intelligent debate.

Your readers may believe SOAR would stop all development dead in its tracks. This is not the case because SOAR would permit a minimum of 62,000 housing starts over its life span, allowing the county’s population to grow by a minimum of 25% in the next 20 years. This is equivalent to seven Moorparks or three brand new Camarillos.

Further, more growth than this would be allowed if approved by voters.

The truth is that this initiative would give Ventura County a tool to help stop the destruction of some of the most fertile farmland on the face of this Earth, to stop the urban sprawl that has become synonymous worldwide with Southern California.

Were that sprawl to continue, the farmland would be lost forever. If we act as stewards, there will always be time to deal with development. If we act to allow wanton development, there will never be a time to bring back the acres lost.

Labeling citizens who cherish the natural beauty and resources of our county as “NIMBYs” and “Johnny-come-lately suburbanites” may provide some convenient rhetoric for SOAR opponents but it really misses the point. We who have found refuge in this county recognize the value of what we have found here and do not take lightly the legacy we will leave to the next generation.

We may not have the kind of coffers industry funded anti-SOAR campaign will throw at this battle. But we care for the right reasons, even if some of them are--God forbid--emotional.

DANA TIBBITTS, Somis

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Ten years ago I moved to Simi Valley because I changed jobs. Over the years I have enjoyed the beautiful green hills and the open spaces that make Simi Valley a unique place to live. So close to Los Angeles, the open spaces and uncluttered hills make Simi Valley seem a world apart.

I cringe at the thought of turning Simi Valley into another San Fernando Valley, full of mini-malls and wall-to-wall concrete. Without the implementation of the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiative, this fear may become a reality. We need SOAR to protect our community against new developments that will diminish the charm and peacefulness that the citizens of Simi Valley have grown to love and call their home.

I am not some radical individual. I simply care about our environment. Therefore, I urge the voters to vote for SOAR in November.

JOYCE PETERS, Simi Valley