Work to lay out Ventura's future development begins

Arlene Martinez | Ventura

In 2005, Ventura leaders laid out their vision for the community. Growth would take place next to and between existing development — known as infill development — and design would be dictated by codes set up to ensure community assets like walkability, parking and mixed uses worked together and looked cohesive.

Those form-based codes would work with other goals, including attracting high-wage jobs, protecting coastal and hillside resources, and promoting well-being and safety through well-maintained infrastructure.

Whether residents still support those same ideals and want them implemented in the same way will be questions officials seek to answer as they gather community input on the revamp of the 13-year-old general plan.

On Monday night, the City Council got an update on how that will occur as well as the related housing element, a state-mandated report that demonstrates the city has the zoning in place to allow for a required number of housing units of each income level. That report must be done by 2021.

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Council member Christy Weir encouraged the city staff to really listen to people doing outreach, which they plan to start in the fall. She wanted assurances that consultants the city will hire to help develop the plan wouldn’t come in with pre-conceived notions or a “particular philosophy” and would have experience with communities similar to Ventura.

She also wanted to make sure the city wasn’t pushed into having to zone for more residential units than the city could handle or wanted. In her years on the council, what she felt sure was: “Nobody is here wanting us to be more like Los Angeles.”

In the last major housing element, Ventura found itself with a lot of units to account for. Planning Manager Dave Ward said the city staff would really be pushing to let state and regional officials know water will be an issue in the next few years as the city works to get new projects up and running. Those include recycled water projects and connecting to state water, both of which will take years to get off the ground.

The city hasn’t gotten a final number yet, which comes from its own projections and with input from the Southern California Association of Governments.

MORE: Ventura won’t turn wastewater into drinking water just yet

Council member Cheryl Heitmann asked that the housing element be developed in coordination with the land-use element of the general plan. She wanted to be sure land-use decisions drove where housing went, not the other way around.

City Community Development Director Jeff Lambert said the two reports are likely to be produced together, but only the housing element has a 2021 deadline set by the state. No matter what, the land-use portion of the plan will be presented first, per the council’s direction.

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The council also took action to address an inconsistency that residents in Montalvo had faced for years. The issue stems from the general plan’s designation to allow for nine to 20 units per acre. But the community, which until 2012 was unincorporated, is zoned for single-family dwellings on larger lots.

The council voted to have the land-use maps reflect the zoning, thereby assuring residents the area wouldn’t be subject to dense housing.

“I’m thrilled with that,” said Mark Abbe, chair of the Montalvo Community Council. Abbe said many in the community never knew of the land-use designation until the year after they were annexed.

But he wished the council had taken action on a request to reduce the building height maximum along Victoria Avenue to 45 feet north of Moon Drive and 35 feet south of Moon.

Abbe said he and other residents would continue to monitor the plan and push for those regulations, which the council rejected on a 4-2 vote because officials wanted a market analysis done on what impact reducing the height would have on development.

Council member Matt LaVere called the original plan an “incredibly well-thought-out document” and said he was glad to hear staff talk so much about civic engagement.

“We need to take the temperature today,” he said.

He asked why so few units that had been approved between 2005 and the end of 2017 had actually been built. The 3,816 units approved are well shy of the 8,318 units the general plan called to be built by 2025. Retail, office, industrial and hotel uses were also significantly below targets set out in the plan, the staff report notes.

Lambert said it was mostly market-driven but noted that there were still successes, including the Kaiser Permanente facility off Market Street.

Also Monday, the council voted with no discussion to seek bids to demolish Harbor Community Church in midtown Ventura. The city bought the property after a prolonged legal battle centering on a program the church ran that offered services to homeless people.

Neighbors and city officials felt the project was not a good fit for the residential neighborhood and shut it down, but church leaders sued, arguing that it was an extension of their religious expression.

Including the purchase price, demolition, and lead and asbestos removal, taxpayers will have paid $2.67 million to settle the dispute. If the city sells the land for $1 million, that’ll reduce the price tag to $1.67 million.

The city paid an inflated price to help cover the costs of Harbor moving, city officials said when the settlement was reached in 2016.

Once the church building and parking lot are demolished, up to four homes will be allowed on the property. The church has since moved to Oxnard, according to a sign in front of the building at 3100 Preble Ave.