Oxnard OKs New Fees for Landscaping Despite Protests : Finance: Council members say they will consider use of private contractors to save money.

Despite protests from dozens of angry homeowners, Oxnard officials Tuesday set new charges for providing landscaping services to neighborhoods throughout the city.

Notices of the city’s intention to levy the new taxes drew complaints that the cost of the gardening service the city provides is high and the quality is low. The notices also sparked a citywide campaign to force city officials to hire private landscapers to do the work.

Before setting the new fees, council members vowed to determine whether private contractors could provide the same services for less money.

About 1,500 homeowners received notices last month warning of new taxes to groom vegetation bordering neighborhoods throughout the city. The notices, required for the first time by state law, sparked protests and petition drives.

In two public hearings over the past two months, homeowners have packed City Hall to protest the special taxes.

“We want action, not a bunch of garbage,” said Jim Moore, president of one of five homeowner associations in the River Ridge area. “This work could best be provided by an independent landscape contractor.”

The homeowners live in maintenance assessment districts, established by city officials mostly over the past half a dozen years as conditions of approval for residential and industrial projects.

The districts require homeowners to pool their money to pay city crews to manicure landscaped walkways and medians.

Oxnard has 16 landscape districts citywide, encompassing about 1.5 million square feet of greenery. For fiscal year 1993-94, the 1,500 homeowners throughout the city are being asked to pay about $500,000 to beautify public landscaping throughout Oxnard.

In a surprise move Tuesday night, Oxnard city staff told the council it could switch to private contractors to do the landscaping work, but would reduce city revenues and require the city to lay off as many as 19 city workers.

“This is an extreme approach,” said Michael Henderson, the city’s parks superintendent. “We would begin work on this immediately.”

The council indicated it would consider this option at a later meeting.

Even though fees for homeowners in half a dozen of the districts would decrease under the assessment adopted by the city, many residents have been critical of the level of service their neighborhoods receive.

Under the newly approved taxes, the 153 homeowners in the Country Club Estates tract will share the $51,668 cost--$338 per homeowner--of grooming narrow strips of vegetation bordering the new subdivision in northwest Oxnard.

That amount represents a $61 increase per parcel over what homeowners paid last year.