Fillmore Project Is Newest Target

Conflict between builders and conservationists has shifted to a new site in Fillmore, where a proposal to build about 750 houses beside the Santa Clara River is being challenged in court as potentially harmful to the environment.

Heritage Valley Park would bring houses, a school, trails and 20 acres of parkland to a city with some of the most affordable housing in Ventura County.

The City Council approved the project in October.

Houses would be built in three phases over 15 years on a 300-acre parcel, with the first units available in July 2004.

Calabasas-based Griffin Industries is the developer.

But Friends of the Santa Clara River sued the city and Griffin last month over concerns about the project’s effect on the last free-flowing river in the region. This is the latest flap over a housing development in which builders and city officials cite the need for more homes to satisfy a growing population, and conservationists press to safeguard the county’s semirural character and natural resources.

Upriver, detractors have targeted the 21,700-home Newhall Ranch project in Los Angeles County, and in the east county, opponents are trying to block the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch development.

Objections to the Heritage Valley Park plan focus on the environmental impact report the city approved.

Opponents say it does not adequately consider traffic, the effect on a proposed levee along the river and the source of dirt needed for the site and the levee.

Talks are planned next month in an attempt to settle the dispute.