Voters to Get Chance to Take Control of Hills’ Development

With the development of thousands of rugged acres at stake, Ventura residents in November will weigh a ballot measure requiring a public vote before water, sewer and other services can be extended to the hillsides bordering the city.

The City Council on Monday night unanimously approved placing the measure on the fall ballot.

The council’s action, which was expected, came in response to a public outcry over plans for as many as 1,900 homes in the sage-studded terrain that serves as a backdrop to the city.

The plan’s opponents expressed confidence Tuesday that voters will approve the measure, taking control over the ultimate use of 9,100 hillside acres.

“The people we’ve talked to welcome the opportunity for decision-making,� said Martha Zeiher, president of a group called Citizens for Hillside Preservation.

Zeiher said hillside development was supported by just two out of hundreds of people who stopped by the group’s booth at the city’s Fourth of July street fair. Beyond sending speakers to meetings of community organizations, Zeiher said no plans have yet been made to promote the ballot measure.

A spokesman for the four family trusts that own most of the land said they plan to remain neutral in November.

To reduce the risk of litigation, which could take years, the landowners last year came out in support of a public vote on their project. They still plan to present it for approval at the polls, although the spokesman said no date has been set for that vote.

“We’re not going to go away,� said Larry Bucher, president of Lloyd Properties. “This property has been in our family for more than 100 years. We want to come up with a sensible approach to developing it that is in the interest of the owners and the public.�

The ballot measure should help calm the project’s critics, said Mayor Sandy Smith.

“It allows the public to be at ease about the fact they’ll have a say on what happens on the hillside,� he said. “It will allow the community to sit down without getting rabid and have an intelligent discussion on the future of the hills.�

The plan’s opponents contend that building above the foothills will degrade Ventura’s character, increasing its area by about one-third and placing luxury homes in chaparral-covered canyons that should remain untouched.

Critics have called the ballot measure an easy out for a city council that prefers not to make tough decisions. But council members vigorously defended the measure.

“There are some issues that are larger than the City Council, and I believe this is one of them,� Councilman Jim Friedman said in an interview Tuesday. “The responsibility of the council is to be responsive to residents, and they’re saying loud and clear they want the opportunity to vote. To turn a deaf ear to that would be to generate mistrust.�

Although Ventura has a SOAR ordinance requiring a public vote for development on farmland, most of the hillside property is zoned for open space and is not covered by the slow-growth law. Although outside the city, the land is within Ventura’s planning sphere of influence and is governed by city decisions.

The four landowning families control about 6,000 acres just north of Ventura’s city limits. The other 3,100 acres included in the ballot measure are divided among several ranchers and the Texaco Inc. oil company.

The boundaries of the area affected by the measure were chosen to match those of a long-established city planning area, said Susan Daluddung, Ventura’s director of community development.