Higher Density Zoning

* Re “The Long View, to Sustain Us,” Ventura County editorial, Aug. 29.

The Sustainability Council appears to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing! It should instead be named the Higher Density Zoning Council. Why? Because it is saying, “Since we can’t develop agricultural land, we must rezone nonagricultural land to higher density, to build more housing for the masses.”

That logic, as evidenced by the positions of Ventura City Council members Brian Brennan and Sandy Smith, is flawed and demonstrates their lack of appreciation of the popular forces that led to the overwhelming passage of the SOAR initiative.

First, just because it will require a popular vote to rezone agricultural land doesn’t mean that we must now allow all other land to have zoning densities increased by revising the city’s comprehensive plan. The intent of SOAR was to prevent overcrowding and urban sprawl. It doesn’t help to prevent overcrowding on agricultural land while forcing it down our throats in our own neighborhoods.

The other reason for SOAR was that we know we can’t trust elected officials to make land-use decisions, because they receive so much irresistible money and pressure from developers. Mr. Brennan and Mr. Smith seem to be saying that, because SOAR prevents them from accommodating the wishes of these rich and powerful constituents by rezoning agricultural land for development, they have to give them higher density zoning on other land--such as your neighborhood.

If we, as citizens, don’t want overcrowding, now is the time to let the council know that we will not tolerate higher density zoning of nonagricultural land, either.

When you get the Seize the Future visioning document, look carefully for references to higher density and zoning changes that these council members are trying to sneak into our vision plan. Also try to find any of the references to slow growth that the vast majority of the visioning participants said that they wanted for Ventura. Then come to the VisionFest on Sept. 25 and make your views known.

KATHY HEIBERG

Ventura