How Tiny Township Slew Giant Growth

In the heady real estate days of 1969, developers gazing on the citrus groves surrounding Somis saw an ideal site for a city set in country splendor.

According to a plan afoot then, a master-planned city of 35,000 was to rise amid the low, rolling hills of the Las Posas Valley and engulf Somis, population 375.

Amberton, as it was to be called, would feature green residential areas, light industry, agricultural estates and a state college campus.

The city was conceived by Kaiser Aetna, a real estate partnership of Aetna Life & Casualty and Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical. The partnership bought 10,000 acres of land surrounding Somis, distributed glossy booklets about the city-to-be and set about selling the idea to Ventura County.

Tiny Somis rebelled.

“There was not going to be a Somis anymore,” said Bob Fulkerson, the third-generation owner of Fulkerson Hardware. “They thought we were a bunch of country bumpkins. They were going to razzle-dazzle us.”

Residents of the unincorporated town mobilized under the banner of saving Somis’ rural identity and blocking the loss of prime agricultural land.

Kaiser Aetna “just assumed the ranchers would sell out,” Fulkerson said.

The county Planning Commission approved Amberton’s creation. Somis residents then took their case to the county Board of Supervisors, which rejected the ambitious plan in September, 1971.

The vote energized fledgling efforts by the county to steer development away from farm areas and toward incorporated cities.

Since the demise of the Amberton plan, Somis’ identity has been tested in more modest disputes.

In June, Somis residents prevailed over the Camarillo City Council to get their town removed from Camarillo’s “area of interest.” The designation had placed Somis under suburban Camarillo’s wing in development decisions.

Independence at Stake

Despite Camarillo’s neighborly assurances, Somis residents had feared that the connection would ease the way for annexation to Camarillo, just 1 1/2 miles from Somis’ southern boundary.

Half of the town’s residents--190 people--signed petitions urging that the link be severed.

“Camarillo has a tendency of wanting to tell us what to do,” argued Jack Fulkerson, Bob Fulkerson’s father and the man often called Somis’ unofficial mayor. “We just want to stay rural.”

The fertile land near Somis is zoned for farming or open space. But the fight over development may never be over, especially in the face of recent lean times for growers and the county’s ever-expanding population.

Citrus, avocado and vegetable growers, squeezed by low crop prices and high debt, say they find the lucrative offers of developers tempting. Some want zoning rules loosened so they can sell out.

‘Delaying Development’

“Maybe we’re just delaying development,” conceded Phyllis Dwire, president of the Las Posas Advisory Committee, a group that consults with the county on local issues. “But I’m still optimistic about preserving agricultural land.”

Some victories for feisty Somis are symbolic. Last year, the state Department of Transportation replaced signs for Somis Road with ones reading Highway 34, the state route that forms the main street through Somis.

But residents and merchants wanted to retain the road as a namesake of their town. They complained, and Caltrans returned the original signs.

Said Jack Fulkerson: “When they monkey around with Somis, we get excited.”