Local residents have appealed the approval of a 328-unit farmworker housing complex on the site of a former lemon orchard north of Ventura.
In a split vote, the Ventura County Planning Commission signed off on the project on Feb. 19, a decision generally considered final unless an appeal is filed. Now, the county’s Board of Supervisors will hear the matter.
The appeals were filed in early March, sending the project to the county board. Each stated different grounds – one calling for additional review, from soil conditions at the site to evacuation and emergency access impacts.
“I regularly use the North Ventura Avenue/SR-33 corridor that would serve as the primary access and evacuation route for the Project site,” the applicant wrote.
The other said the project violated county rules, including those related to building farmworker housing in an area designated as a “very high” fire hazard severity zone.
The appeals required a $1,000 deposit, funds that would be refunded if an appeal is granted. As of midweek, a hearing date had yet be scheduled.
When was the farmworker housing OK’d?
The planning commission’s 3-2 vote came after two meetings to consider the approval and hours of public testimony.
Some speakers asked commissioners to vote no, raising concerns, from traffic gridlock to fire hazards in the unincorporated area off the Ventura Avenue. Residents in the adjacent Valley Vista neighborhood have long opposed the project, signing a petition, hanging banners and creating a website.
Others urged commissioners to vote yes, citing the need for affordable farmworker housing. The project, which would have longterm affordability restrictions, complies with county rules and would be built to the latest safety standards, including those to address fire hazards, they said.
Plans call for building to happen in three phases on nearly 20 acres of the site, at 4884 N. Ventura Ave., around 1.5 miles north of the city of Ventura.
The project, proposed as 100% affordable units for lower income farmworkers, with the exception of four manager apartments, would include 18 three-story buildings. An additional 63 acres on the property would be left as open space, according to applicant Ventura Ranch Partners, LLC.
What concerns came up at the hearing?
The complex would be built within a “very high” fire hazard severity zone, and the county ordinance generally prohibits farmworker housing in such a zone.
But in this case, the county planning officials said the fire hazard maps in effect when the project’s application was deemed complete in 2024 are the ones that apply, and those did not include the location in such a zone.
The spot along the Highway 33 corridor also has limited routes in and out, one where traffic snarled during the fast-moving Thomas Fire in 2017, officials said. County officials said additional vehicles in the area likely would create additional challenges in an evacuation.
Before the project was approved, conditions were added, including for the applicant to develop a site-specific evacuation plan in addition to requirements already in place for fire protection.
Stacy Miller, a spokesperson for the proposed development, said the appeals did not come as a surprise. Those opposed have been dedicated to their opposition, she said.
The applicants believe everything has been covered in the record, including in the project’s environmental review and other studies. Delays are concerning, Miller said, because they affect the ability of farmworkers to obtain needed housing.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Appeals send Ventura Ranch farmworker housing to another hearing
Reporting by Cheri Carlson, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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