Housing for Farm Workers Under Review

More farm worker housing is needed if Ventura County is to achieve the twin goals of preserving open space and keeping its agricultural industry vibrant, county supervisors said Tuesday.

Providing shelter for the laborers who pick strawberries, pack lemons and harvest lettuce should be a top priority in Ventura County--as important as guarding against environmental blight, board Chairman John Flynn said.

“We have people who can’t find a place to live,” Flynn said. “They are living in garages, and that is a violation of my moral code.”

The comments come as supervisors await the results of a survey asking farm workers to assess their living conditions. About 1,500 workers have filled out questionnaires in recent months, said Senior County Planner Kelly Scoles.

County planners are tabulating the responses and will present a report to the supervisors this summer, Scoles said. The information is expected to guide the officials as they consider new policies on beefing up the county’s affordable-housing stock.

The county gained prominence for its growth-control efforts after voters in 1998 approved tight restrictions on development of cropland and open space. Now, decision-makers are struggling to mesh residents’ desires to retain a semi-rural feel in Ventura County with farmers’ need for regulations flexible enough to keep their fields profitable.

In a spirited, three-hour debate before a joint session of county supervisors and planning commissioners last week, dozens of residents, farmers and government officials considered how to do that.

No one is sure how to reach a compromise. But decisions on such things as farm worker housing will begin to address the question, officials said Tuesday.

Supervisor Kathy Long suggested that the county find out more about a recently approved voter initiative in Napa County that loosens zoning restrictions so growers can build shelter for their laborers.

Lemon grower Tom Pecht, whose family has been farming the Oxnard Plain for a century, said he supports any movement to help solve the problem.

“No one wants two or three families living in a house,” Pecht said. “They should have their own homes.”

Estimates of how many farm workers live in Ventura County vary wildly, from 15,000 to 34,000.

Ventura County does not have the large migrant laborer population seen in Napa, Pecht said. Local workers tend to stay year-round and crowd into garages and apartments instead of bunkhouses, he said.

But the two counties have one thing in common: Workers will not be available if there is not adequate shelter, said Pecht, a member of the county’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee. And that’s a threat to the county’s $1-billion industry, he said.

“If you don’t have agricultural workers, you don’t have ag,” Pecht said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Proponents of growth restrictions say they recognize the need to make concessions. Supervisor Steve Bennett, who helped write the county’s SOAR growth-control initiatives, said allowances for housing should be considered.

“As long as it’s in the spirit of keeping ag viable, I would be in support,” Bennett said. “But you don’t want a loophole large enough to drive a subdivision through it.”