Venturans may vote on viewsheds
Initiative would impose a moratorium on tall buildings
By Bill Lascher 05/17/2007
Neighborhood groups in Ventura frustrated by developments they deem unsightly may soon have a new weapon in their arsenal.
Ventura Citizens’ Organization for Responsible Development (VCORD), a coalition of neighborhood groups from throughout the city, took the first steps April 30 to enact an ordinance that would protect views they say are some of the city’s most valuable assets.
The group notified the city that day that it plans to circulate a petition to get an ordinance on the ballot that, if passed, would establish a 23-member community board charged with writing an ordinance that would protect views of Ventura’s hillsides and coastline.
The measure would also include a two-year moratorium on buildings taller than 26 feet during which guidelines would be enacted codifying viewshed rules. (A viewshed is an area of land, water and other environmental elements that is visible from a fixed vantage point that is deemed worthy of preservation.) Only certain areas, including industrial zones, some commercial districts, hospitals, the Pacific View Mall, the Downtown Core, and land held by the county and the Ventura Unified School District would be excluded from the ban.
City Attorney Bob Boehm was expected to release a possible title and objective summary of the proposed measure May 11. VCORD would then need to collect signatures from 10 percent of registered voters, which in this case would be 5,983 people. Once the signatures are verified, the city council could adopt the proposed ordinance, have it placed on the Nov. 6 ballot, or order a report. Or, if 15 percent of voters, or 8,975 people, sign the petition, a special election could be called for Feb. 5, 2008.
If the measure goes through, the new board would be charged with developing a “view protection ordinance” amending the city’s general plan. Although the plan requires “preservation of public viewsheds,” Harris said there is no ordinance ensuring that developers are required to consider what impact their projects would have on Ventura’s scenic beauty.
“We’re just taking stuff right out of the general plan and saying let’s put the force of law behind it,” Harris said.
Among the projects riling Harris and her allies are a proposed development across the street from Ventura High School between San Clemente and Coronado Streets and one at 1570 E. Thompson under construction by V2 Ventures, LLC. Harris and other Midtown residents claim that the project disrupt the identity of the neighborhood and could overshadow Craftsman-stlyle cottages surrounding it.
Leon Bidlow, the project’s developer and vice president of V2 Ventures, did not return a call for comment on this story.
Other developers, either did not return phone calls or would not comment because they had yet to view the proposed initiative.
Although the board is not publicly elected, voters would not necessarily define its makeup.
Most of the 23 members of the View Resources Board would be appointed by the board of directors of VCORD.
Membership would represent different neighborhoods. Three would come from the West side, four would come from an area east of Victoria Ave., and 10 would come from a central district. That district would be further divided to include two representatives from the Harbor, two from the Pierpont Beach area, three from a midtown district south of Poli St., two from a district above Poli, and two from an area northeast of Telegraph.
The remainder of the board members would include a representative of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce, one member of the city council, one member of the city’s planning commission, and one staff member from the city’s community development department.
Harris said that although VCORD’s board will appoint the community representatives, it will not disenfranchise voters because anyone can join the organization. No dues are required to participate in the group, and its board is elected from its membership, which is open to the public and includes the various neighborhood councils that have sprung up in the city.
“It’s really more egalitarian,” Harris said. “The reason the community needs to do the job [of documenting and defining the viewsheds] is simply because they know their neighborhoods better than anyone else. They know what is most valuable as a view shed in their own areas. Having the city deciding what matters to them just doesn't make any sense.”
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