Highlighted Tenet: Create Housing Opportunities and Choices-

Achieve the American dream. Those four words are deceptively simple. In the past 50-60 years, Americans have tried to fulfill their dream through the purchase of a home. Tenet 3 of the 10 Tenets of livable communities, "Create a Range of Housing Opportunities and Choices", is selected for this issue to shed light on current challenges facing our community.

Here is the original site plan submitted for Citrus Walk before the City got involved

The Livable Communities Working Group of the Ventura Civic Alliance spent an exciting couple hours in July with Nelson Hernandez (Director, Community Development Department), Brian Randall (Associate Planner), and Saul Aguilar (City Manager's Office) reviewing the City of Ventura's housing approval process and discussing how they are applying the principles of smart growth in Ventura. Ventura is planning 8000 units over 20 years which averages out to be 400 units of new housing each year. (280 units were completed last year.) Staff capacity is the limiting factor regarding how many units are processed each year. Emphasis is on good design, and the code provides the rules, such as the form based codes used in the downtown section of Ventura, to accomplish this. Ventura's codes emphasize the human element such as walkable and activated streets. Projects throughout town are also driven by some of the form based code decisions made for downtown development, like the requirement that every unit needs to have private space (a balcony or some outdoor open space).

The first project our Working Group reviewed with the Ventura planners was Citrus Walk, which is being developed by the Olson Company on 40 acres of property in East Ventura fronting Highway 126 with the unit mix ranging from entry level to expensive market level ($400,000 for condos to $800,000 for more traditional 3000 square foot units in a 1 and 2 story mix). The initial plan reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council included 64 condominiums arraigned in 8 buildings, and 176 single-family homes on 4,000 and 6,000 square foot lots. The structures were arranged in a contemporary block pattern with 36-foot wide streets, and front-loaded garages.

Here is the final site plan for the project

At the August 12, 2004 Ventura City Council meeting for allocation requests, the Council requested that Citrus Walk include larger single family lots, more diverse building types, and a centralized park area to serve as a public outdoor area. The Council granted up to 240 housing unit allocations. In order to address the Council's comments at this meeting, and in response to staff's concerns, the Olson Company revised the project. Larger lots with conventional front-loaded garages were placed around the perimeter of the site to serve as a buffer for the existing residential properties. Interior single- family lots were configured with alleys to relocate the garages to the back of the property. The condominium units were reconfigured into duplex and tri-plex units to establish a more single-family appearance and a more attractive street scene. Interior street widths were reduced from 36 feet to 30 feet, but will still allow parking on both sides of the street.

In 1997 30 acres of currently vacant land within the "Northeast Area" of the Ventura Harbor was zoned for residential use. In 2000 the developer started working with the Port District, which continues to own the land, to develop a plan for a gated community of rental units with streets only for residents. The developer wanted buildings to be identical for design and maintenance cost efficiencies, and at one point there were 17 such buildings proposed. The city rejected this original plan, the process became very contentious, and a mixture of lawsuits and Charrettes followed. See an elevation sketch of a mixed use building in the project's revised plan at the top of this newsletter under the "The 10 Principles (Tenets) of Livable Communities" header.

In the Real World, How Workable is Transit Point Development? The Los Angeles Times discussed the use of cars versus public transit by those living in the best transit point development that Los Angeles offers. What are the learnings and how should they effect the smart growth thinking in Ventura? Let us know what you think with a note to civicalliance@vccf.org.

What is the future of open space in Ventura County, and how can it be better managed and protected? The Ventura County Star reports that risks exist to the Tierra Rejada Valley open space created by handshakes over 25 years ago.