Plan Is Worth the Wait

Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes--or several pairs--to see the obvious.

The city of Oxnard made a wise investment when it invited a panel of development, environmental and financial experts from the Urban Land Institute to make an intensive weeklong study of Ormond Beach. Their report offers exciting ideas for solving the decades-old dilemma of what to do with this unpolished gem. Although it leaves plenty of room for flexibility and continued discussion of specific items, the report is the best blueprint yet for developing this unique site.

The panel’s most startling suggestion: Stop viewing the 300 acres of wetlands as some sort of unfortunate impediment and instead treat them as a valued centerpiece for a coordinated mixture of homes, businesses and natural areas.

The panel’s most telling question: Why has Oxnard allowed such an important area to slip so far down its priority list?

To that, Mayor Manuel Lopez responded, “I guess the priority seems low because we’ve talked about it for so long. I think the fact that you are here will get us back on track.”

We hope so. We urge the City Council to appoint a steering committee to review the panel’s recommendations and begin putting them into action. By the time ULI’s more detailed written report arrives, in about two months, the council should have a leadership team, and its resolve to move forward, in place.

Ormond Beach, 1,404 acres wedged between Point Mugu Naval Air Station and the city of Port Hueneme, is Ventura County’s largest remaining undeveloped stretch of coastline. It has inspired many lofty development plans that have gone nowhere, described by panelist Kenneth Lawler as “a history of failed grandiose expectations.”

Ormond Beach has been called the Jewel of Oxnard and the Armpit of Oxnard--both with good reason. It is home to some of the county’s most fragile wetlands and some of its heaviest industry. Despite being surrounded by a paper mill, a recycling operation, a waste water treatment plant and an electricity generating plant, its shallow freshwater lagoon and saltwater marshes of pickleweed, grasses and bulrushes provide habitat for a variety of birds, including such threatened or endangered species as the California brown pelican, western snowy plover, California least tern, Belding’s savannah sparrow and California black rail. The lagoon is home to a tiny endangered fish called the tidewater goby.

The Urban Land Institute is a 63-year-old nonprofit research and education organization dedicated to “providing responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment.” The 12 members who spent a week in Oxnard all volunteered their time; the city’s $100,000 fee covered their expenses and other ULI endeavors. They arrived June 6, following months of preliminary research by ULI and city staff. By June 11, they had toured the city by helicopter and bus, interviewed nearly 100 local residents with interest or expertise in some facet of Ormond Beach, analyzed the economic and environmental issues, digested all this information and produced a two-hour presentation.

Among the suggestions:

* Reverse the traditional order of things and start by restoring the wetlands, making use of available state and federal funding.

* Change the name of Rice Avenue to “Ormond Beach Boulevard” to raise the area’s profile among freeway drivers.

* View Ormond Beach as a catalyst for revitalizing all of South Oxnard, rather than cutting it off with gated communities.

* Make strategic land purchases and swaps. For starters, the city should buy the Halaco aluminum recycling plant and turn its ominous-looking oceanfront slag heap into an observation point for the wetlands nature preserve.

* Develop an industrial park away from the wetlands and residential areas to reduce conflicts between incompatible uses.

* Proceed with development in phases, beginning with residential, commercial and retail areas north of Hueneme Road and progressing to retirement-oriented housing near the wetlands and wildlife areas to the south.

In presenting the visitors’ findings, Chair James Pollak told the City Council: “The panel will soon go away. Only you can implement the recommendations.”

We are glad the city of Oxnard has resisted more than a decade of piecemeal plans and contradictory proposals, holding out for an integrated plan that would capitalize on Ormond Beach’s assets rather than obliterating them. We welcome the ULI panel’s creative, sensitive and sensible ideas. We encourage the Oxnard City Council to provide the strong, clear leadership it will take to follow through.