Baseball, Movies, Shopping Are All Work, Not Play for Ventura

VENTURA â€”  Minor league baseball, libraries and schools top a heavyweight agenda for Ventura city leaders, who hope to see dramatic changes in 1997.

And the city will be hard at work implementing a number of ambitious projects approved in 1996.

Jackhammers, shovels and backhoes will be tearing up ground to start work on the $50-million Buenaventura Mall expansion, the 10-screen downtown theater and the adjacent downtown parking structure. The city will also start strengthening and lengthening the damaged pier, and decide the fate of the historic Peirano grocery.

“It’s going to be an incredibly busy year,� Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures said. “I am looking forward to accomplishing a lot, starting with our first meeting in January . . . . It’s going to be a big council night. Bring your pillow.�

And city leaders predict the pace won’t slow until at least November, because four City Council seats will be up for grabs in 1997, casting a political shadow over many decisions.

“1997 will be an even busier year than 1996,� Councilman Jim Friedman said. “And the fact that we have a local election means that there will be a lot more politicizing on a local level.�

The council will kick off the year Jan. 6 with a discussion on how to improve the area around Ventura’s auto mall near Johnson Drive--one of the city’s largest sources of sales tax revenue. Improvements in that area would greatly influence whether negotiations on a Class A minor league baseball stadium can move ahead.

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The stadium would be built on 20 acres of celery fields behind the auto mall.

If improvements can be made, perhaps stalled stadium talks can proceed, said City Manager Donna Landeros.

The issue sparked vigorous debate at council meetings in early fall. A basic agreement was hammered out, but there’s been no movement since then.

In private, council members say the longer the delay, the less likely a stadium becomes. But they say minor league baseball in Ventura is not dead.

“It’s not off, but it’s not on either,� said Landeros, who is negotiating with developer John Hofer on behalf of the city. “There’s a long way to go in terms of what the stadium project will actually be. I’ve given them the highest number I think it should be--they’ve had to retool the project. There’s been sort of a hiatus.�

But if all goes well, officials hope to put a final stadium deal before voters in March.

The next week, on Jan. 13, in a joint meeting with the Ventura Unified School District school board, the council will take up the long awaited school master plan. Toward the end of the month, the council will plunge into debate of the city’s $55,100 library study.

“Schools and libraries will be right up there and pressing,� Mayor Jack Tingstrom said. “If the baseball negotiations work out, that will be another hot item.�

In recent years, more and more students have crowded into Ventura’s already strained schools. The statewide class-size reduction initiative, which made it possible for school districts to limit the size of kindergarten through third-grade classes to 20 students, exacerbated school and teacher shortages.

The Long Range School Facilities Plan, released in late December, attempts to remedy problems of increased enrollment and overcrowding. The plan, assembled by a team of 18 people over four months, recommends building two new elementary schools, one new middle school and one high school--at an estimated cost of $120 million.

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If they adopt the plan, the council will also have to grapple with how to pay for it. The report advocates a general bond issue, selling surplus district property, state funds, or developer fees as possible financial sources.

The report will also help the council decide whether to raise the year 2000 population cap in the city’s Comprehensive Plan--a blueprint for development--and whether to modify the Residential Growth Management Plan, which controls the residential building permit process.

While Ventura’s population continues to expand, local library services continue to contract, and their collections and technology fall further behind the times. In 1997, the city will have to decide whether to secede from the county library system and form its own independent city system, as a library consultant recommends in a $55,100 report.

According to San Francisco-based consultant Beverley Simmons, Ventura library collections are woefully out of date, and the three city libraries combined have less than half the space they need to serve the city’s population. Simmons says the city can operate its own libraries for less money than the county does, with more control over hours and collections.

But Landeros advises caution.

“We can take over, but I don’t think we can improve it with the existing budget,� Landeros said. “If residents want services beyond what they have now, that is going to require an election to come up with the money. There is no way we can readjust the current budget priorities without impairing public money.�

The council will also begin implementing projects approved in 1996.

Construction on the $50-million Buenaventura Mall expansion is scheduled to begin in February.

The mall will grow from two anchor stores to four as Robinson May and Sears migrate from Oxnard’s Esplanade mall. The expansion will also add a second floor of stores.

Officials are also hoping for a downtown renaissance.

Construction of a multiplex theater should begin in late spring, and the developer hopes get the reels rolling by December. Nearby, construction of a four-story, 500-space parking structure on a public lot on Santa Clara Street is scheduled to begin in late February.

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Finally, after years of foot-dragging, the council will have to decide what to do with the historic Peirano grocery. As each winter passes and more rain seeps into the dilapidated structure, the Ventura landmark crumbles a little more. And the discovery of an archeologically significant 18th century Chumash lavanderia under the building has further complicated restoration efforts.

“Renovate? Rehab? Or demolish? Demolish the building and preserve the archeological site?� Landeros said. “I’m laying out the whole range of options, but a decision has to be made.� The bike path, which Councilman Gary Tuttle has called a top priority during his two terms, should also move forward.

And next fall, council members Steve Bennett, Measures, Tuttle and Jim Monahan are up for reelection. Tuttle has already said he will not run again.

Friedman predicts that the West End Community Council, brought together this year in a series of workshops, will probably field its own candidate in the next election.