Strawberry Fields Forever or Subdivision?

CAMARILLO —  As Ventura County debates the future of farmland, a developer is moving forward with a proposal to convert a swath of prime agricultural land into a 1,000-home subdivision.

In fact, the developer, Dennis Hardgrave, has asked to add 94 acres to the project, which already called for the conversion of 243 acres of farmland.

If the project is approved, Camarillo Park and Village would fill the land between the Ventura Freeway and Pleasant Valley Road with houses, a school, a hotel, restaurants, a shopping center, soccer fields, a gymnasium, a community center and a roller-hockey rink.

The land, which stretches from the Imation plant to the Lamplighter Mobile Home Park, is not permanently designated as agriculture, but Camarillo City Council members must decide Wednesday whether now is the time to consider changing it.

Although most council members say they have not yet made up their minds, one says he eventually would consider the plan--but not now.

“There’s good things about the project, with one-third of the land set aside for recreational purposes” and open space, said Councilman Mike Morgan. “But I think the plan is premature. Our ag land is still viable there. All of our land doesn’t have to be developed at once.”

Reaction to the project from the proposed subdivision’s closest neighbors has been mixed.

Some oppose it because it diminishes agricultural land; others support it because their children could attend the school included in the plan.

“Although I hate to see the town being eaten up by developers, it would be good for the economy and might even increase property values,” said Wade Boteler, a mobile-home park resident.

“There’s a lot of kids who live here,” said Boteler, who has a 5-year-old daughter. “It would be wonderful to have a new school.”

The property owners, HiJi Bros. and EJM Development Co., have offered 10 acres and funding that could potentially exceed standard fees to the Pleasant Valley School District for a school that would house about 400 students from the subdivision. It also would have space for children from the Lamplighter Mobile Home Park and the Woodside Greens and Camarillo Springs communities.

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The school would open at the same time houses would be ready for occupancy--in about four years.

Some mobile home park residents say they would rather have new homes next to them than the strawberry fields that are fumigated with methyl bromide--a controversial pesticide that park residents have protested.

“They tried to poison us last summer with their strawberry fields,” said resident Hank Hamilton.

But Hamilton was not happy with the prospect of development, either.

“Most of us are in this area because we like the rural location,” he said. “Traffic would just be horrendous. We have a hard time getting out of here as it is.”

In response to such comments, Hardgrave says the landowners would widen Pleasant Valley Road to four lanes and put in a signal at the intersection.

Doing so also would ease traffic increases due to the planned California State University Channel Islands and a potential 16,000-seat amphitheater at Camarillo Regional Park, Hardgrave said.

City park district officials, enticed by the prospect of receiving 33 1/2 acres of youth soccer fields at no cost, support the plan.

“It is a benefit to the entire community--to the school district, the park district, citizens, college and the city,” said John Williamson, general manager of the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District.

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Attempting to rally support before approaching the City Council, property owners offered to donate soccer fields nearly twice the size of the district’s existing facilities at Freedom Park, along with 3 1/2 acres for a 14,000-square-foot gymnasium, community center and roller-hockey facility.

The Camarillo YMCA has expressed interest in entering into a lease agreement with the park district for the gymnasium.

“They have facilities they use at Las Posas School and Dos Caminos School for after-school care, but they don’t have a facility,” Williamson said. “They are in desperate need of a facility . . . and could raise the funds to build this much quicker than we could.”

In order to convert agricultural land within city limits, the developer must illustrate that there will be public benefit from the conversion.

The landowners now rent the property to farmers, who use it for seasonal row crops.

They are looking at long-term potential of the land as the city nears build-out, Hardgrave said. He dismissed feeling any pressure to request the zone change before a countywide farmland preservation campaign, known as Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources, gains any more momentum.

“This project fits within the guidelines of orderly development and is not one that SOAR is intended to deal with, because it is within the city limits,” Hardgrave said.

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But SOAR advocates say they are very concerned about the project.

“If you keep allowing people to turn farmland over, those who do want to keep farming can’t, because it’s not cost effective anymore,” said Ruth Means, who lives on the outskirts of Camarillo.

When farmers quit using support services, such as seed and fertilizer companies, it drives up the cost for others, Means said.

“The thing that always gets to me is that farmers say the SOAR initiative infringes on their property rights,” Means said. “To me, when you own property, the only right you have is to request that the zoning be amended. To get it changed is a privilege.”

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FYI

The Camarillo City Council will review a plan Wednesday to convert nearly 340 acres of farmland into a subdivision complete with a school, parks, shopping center and hotel. If council members see merit in the Camarillo Park and Village project, they will refer the request for a zone change to the Planning Department to conduct environmental studies, which would take four to six months. The Planning Commission would then hold a public hearing before making a recommendation to the City Council.