Slow-Growth Proponents Dominate County Panel

The commission charged with overseeing orderly development in Ventura County is undergoing a decided philosophical shift, as two of the county’s staunchest slow-growth activists replace two of the panel’s most ardent property rights advocates.

When the Local Agency Formation Commission meets next month, its newest voting member will be Thousand Oaks City Councilwoman Linda Parks, one of the east county’s most visible slow-growth advocates.

Parks, now a LAFCO alternate, will replace Ventura Councilman Jim Monahan on the seven-member board. He was considered one of the most sympathetic to concerns of developers and business in general.

That switch comes only months after first-term county Supervisor Steve Bennett, the architect of the county’s landmark slow-growth policy known as SOAR, replaced Supervisor Judy Mikels on the LAFCO board.

Mikels, like Monahan, was viewed as an advocate of property owners’ rights in the wake of the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiatives--sweeping anti-sprawl policies that curbed development outside designated growth boundaries. Both voted on the prevailing side of LAFCO’s 4-3 decision last year that paved the way for Santa Paula to triple its size by expanding into nearby canyons.

Subsequent to the LAFCO decision in February 2000, Santa Paula voters passed a slow-growth measure that put those expansion plans in limbo.

Bennett and Parks said the new LAFCO board would not have allowed Santa Paula’s expansion to proceed.

“I think this LAFCO board is very conscious of the commitment of the citizens of Ventura County to try this grand experiment of stopping urban sprawl,” Bennett said.

He declined to compare his philosophy with that of Mikels, but said that “the difference between Monahan’s and Parks’ presence will be dramatic.”

Mikels said she fears the shift in the board could go too far in the other direction.

“It appears there will be an imbalance,” she said. “It could lead to consideration of only a few needs instead of all the needs. How much open space can we have and still meet the needs of the greater community, . . . [including] affordable housing, economic development?”

Monahan could not be reached for comment.

Other proposed developments could come under LAFCO scrutiny in the coming years if additional city annexations are required.

These might include proposed hillside development in Ventura, a scaled-back version of the Hidden Creek project in Moorpark and any school construction outside cities’ boundaries.

LAFCO members serve four-year terms. The commission’s other members are John Rush, a member of the Camarillo Healthcare District; county Supervisor Kathy Long; Oxnard Councilman John Zaragoza; Jack Curtis, a member of the Ventura County River Water District, and public representative Louis Cunningham.

The seven board members and four alternates are chosen by county supervisors, city officials and members of special districts, such as water boards.

The changes in the board’s makeup come at a time when state law gives formation commissions throughout California more power over development decisions in individual counties.

Until this year, for example, cities and school districts could reach agreements on their own to build schools on land in greenbelts.

That’s why Oxnard leaders pushed ahead with plans for the Juan Soria School late last year, even after LAFCO rejected the city’s bid to annex a working farm for the proposed school site--something they couldn’t do today.