Santa Paula Approves Expansion of Growth Boundaries for New Housing

Santa Paula residents have voted to extend the city’s growth boundaries, allowing a local developer to proceed with a proposal to build up to 70 homes on 32 1/2 acres on the west side of town.

More than 21% of the city’s registered voters weighed in Tuesday, with 56.3% voting in support of Measure A and 43.5% opposing it.

Developer Scott Anderson wants to build 60 to 70 single-family homes on land north of Foothill Road and west of Peck Road. The parcel lies outside city limits but is within Santa Paula’s sphere of influence and borders residential neighborhoods.

Santa Paula’s anti-sprawl law restricts development to areas within its “urban restriction boundary,” and Measure A extended that boundary to include the project site.

Anderson, who owns Del Financial in Santa Paula, said Wednesday that he thinks voters liked the small scale of the project.

A previous measure, defeated last year, sought to include more than 5,000 acres in Adams Canyon in the city’s growth boundaries.

Tuesday’s turnout was slightly higher than expected, but City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz wasn’t surprised.

“Growth restrictions are serious business in Ventura County,” he said, “and Santa Paula is no different.”

He also wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the election.

“The developer did his homework,” Bobkiewicz said. “He made sure people understood that this wasn’t someone from outside the area.”

Passage of the measure means the proposal can proceed to the next step -- consideration of annexation.

The city would then have to approve the project, Bobkiewicz said. Anderson said he hopes to break ground on the project in eight to 12 months.