Open-Space Group Targets 6,000 Acres

Open-space advocates who successfully fought last fall’s ballot measure to allow construction of 1,390 homes in the hills above Ventura have established a nonprofit land conservancy to acquire about 6,000 acres.

Backers of Ventura Hillsides Conservancy met Friday morning at Arroyo Verde Park to discuss raising the millions of dollars needed to purchase the hills and canyons they hope to spare from development. Speakers included Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, Ventura Deputy Mayor Brian Brennan and Brooke Ashworth, president of the new organization.

“We’re willing to try to do what we can to make it work, rather than sitting around wringing our hands and going to battle over and over again about such issues at the ballot box,” said Ashworth, an environmental analyst for a law firm. “We have a common goal: The landowner said all along it wanted to sell the land and we want to buy it.”

Larry Bucher, chairman of Lloyd Management Corp., which controls a large portion of the property, said he is willing to meet with conservancy officials to discuss a deal.

“A fair return is all we’ve ever asked,” said Bucher, who pointed out his company donated the land for Arroyo Verde Park. “We’re in a negotiating mode, but we’re not in a position to give it away.”

Bennett, an architect of Ventura County’s growth-control laws, said the conservancy is a natural offshoot of last fall’s “No on Measure A” campaign. That effort challenged Bucher’s coalition of some 300 landowners that spent more than $1 million trying to persuade voters to permit home building in exchange for setting aside 80% of 3,800 acres for parks, trails and open space.

“This kind of activity is what separates Ventura from so many other places where sprawl has almost defeated the sense of community,” Bennett said. “Here, people believe they can still influence and control the fate of their city.”

Bennett said today’s economy makes it “a very difficult climate to try to raise money in” and added that those who support open-space preservation must realize the effort could take several years.

The conservancy’s fund-raising drive starts Tuesday with a visit to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream parlor in downtown Ventura to pass out brochures and sign up new members. Ashworth said singer Jackson Browne has offered to give a concert to benefit the group, an event tentatively scheduled for Seaside Park in September.

Ashworth said it is crucial for her group to create alliances with public and private agencies to protect the hillsides. “We also have to seek state and federal money,” she said.