SOAR Already Being Felt

What Ventura County voters really got when they passed the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) initiative and its companion Measure A in November is becoming clearer as individual projects make their way through the refigured maze of conditions that govern approval.

The city of Ventura, which passed the county’s first SOAR measure in 1995, will need voter approval to build its east side sports park at Kimball and Telephone roads, on privately owned land currently zoned for agriculture. City officials had initially proposed that the park be put to voters as part of a package deal with a housing development on 87 1/2 acres of city-owned land at Telegraph Road and Petit Avenue, also zoned for agriculture.

The plan was to partially finance the park by selling the land to a private developer. Voters would have to approve both or neither--making the park a hostage to approval of the housing development. The City Council wisely voted to sever the two and let the park project stand or fall on its own merits. A SOAR vote is expected by November 2000.

In Ojai, officials at St. Joseph’s Health & Retirement Center face a SOAR vote for permission to expand their facility at the expense of orange trees. To compensate for the lost orchard, the center is exploring the possibility of planting two acres of new trees on uncultivated land elsewhere for each acre uprooted. If approved by the county Planning Commission and supervisors, the arrangement could go to SOAR vote in March.

So already, SOAR is influencing projects that might otherwise have replaced farmland with construction. In the case of the sports park and the retirement home expansion, voters may well agree that the projects are worthy and that appropriate compensation, or “mitigation” in planning parlance, is being offered. Increasingly, private developers will have to make the same case. If SOAR works as intended, the result should be better-designed projects and more substantial mitigation.

Likewise, if SOAR works as intended, there should be less need for the three steps toward implementing Measure A approved last week by the Board of Supervisors. Yet those steps must be taken, partly as insurance against unforeseen flaws and loopholes in SOAR and, more significantly, because 69% of the voters said so.

Efforts to carry out that mandate have been stymied by a philosophical split on the Board of Supervisors. Kathy Long wants the Ventura Council of Governments to lead the way, in part to build VCOG’s strength and credibility; her colleagues John Flynn and Frank Schillo believe the board should retain control.

After rejecting a more ambitious strategy in April, the board last week agreed to have Flynn and Schillo proceed on three fronts:

* Greenbelts--Each supervisor will work with city officials in her or his district to strengthen existing greenbelts and establish new ones. The Times supports more and stronger greenbelts, in accord with our belief that keeping agriculture and housing far apart is the best way to ensure the success of both. In particular, creating the long-discussed greenbelt east of Fillmore would demonstrate the sincerity of the board’s vow to stop Newhall Ranch development at the county line. All of the greenbelts should exclude such densely populated institutions as schools and prisons; there should be open public debate over whether golf courses will be allowed.

* Land conservation options--Flynn and Schillo will explore ways to support the nonprofit land trusts already at work in the county, to form a countywide version of the successful Conejo Open Space Conservation Authority, and to create a countywide tax district dedicated to conservation of farmland and open space. These strategies may have their place in the overall scheme of things, but if greenbelts are solidified and the provisions of SOAR are enforced, the need for public entities to buy and maintain vast acreage will be reduced.

* Education--Passage of SOAR has turned Ventura County into a living laboratory for managed, balanced growth. When two-thirds of the county’s voters approved it, they were demanding a larger role in making land-use decisions that will affect everyone who lives, works and pays the bills in Ventura County. The Times supports a vigorous, ongoing campaign of public meetings to encourage continued discussion about the effects, both intended and unintended, of SOAR. We support the board’s plan to partner with the League of Women Voters, the Sustainability Council and other local organizations to accomplish this.

Ventura County voters resoundingly said yes to both SOAR and Measure A. Although there is some duplication and redundancy, it is appropriate to follow through on that mandate.