Greenbelt Proposed to Help Limit Growth

Taking a first step to implement voter-approved growth control, Ventura County and the city of Fillmore are pushing to create a large new greenbelt of protected farmland stretching 13 miles from the city limits to the Los Angeles County line.

Officials said Wednesday that they hope to form this year a 40,000-acre zone where agriculture can flourish apart from urban development.

County Supervisor Kathy Long, whose district includes the fertile Santa Clara Valley, said she came away from recent meetings with city officials convinced that the new greenbelt will be backed by an array of interests.

“There is solid support from the City Council, and I think the agricultural community sees the value of this,” Long said. “So my goal is to get it done by the end of the year.”

Creation of the zone will send a message to Newhall Land and Farming Co., which plans a new 70,000-resident community nearby in Los Angeles County and owns more than 10,000 acres of farmland in Ventura County, Long said.

“It fits the bill of what voters wanted,” she said. “And it will send a clear message to Newhall that we are serious about protecting our remaining farmland.”

The push in Fillmore is part of a countywide effort to strengthen six existing greenbelt agreements that cover 83,000 acres and to create five new greenbelts.

City Manager Roy Payne said his staff has worked for months with county planners and lawyers to craft a greenbelt plan that allows the city to grow from 13,000 residents to 20,000 by the year 2020, but exempts the riverside citrus belt east of Fillmore from new residential and industrial construction.