CAMARILLO : Planned Housing for Mentally Ill OKd

A proposed apartment complex that would house 150 mentally ill people cleared its last major hurdle Wednesday when a county agency approved its annexation to the Camrosa County Water District.

“This was the big one,” project supporter Leo O’Hearn said after the Local Agency Formation Commission unanimously approved the annexation. “We have HUD ready to fund as soon as we could establish that we have an uninterruptable water supply.”

The federal Housing and Urban Development Department is providing $3.65 million to build 50 three-bedroom apartments on the 20-acre site at 1722 S. Lewis Road, south of Camarillo. Construction is expected to start this year. The Ventura County Area Housing Authority, which is overseeing the project, has a 99-year lease on the land, which was part of the Camarillo State Hospital grounds.

The county is spending $650,000 to build a community center for the mentally ill at the site. O’Hearn, a former president of the state Alliance for the Mentally Ill and who remains active in the group’s local chapter, said the apartments will house mentally ill patients who are sufficiently independent.

“These are fairly high-functioning people,” O’Hearn said. “They always have a hard time finding places in the community.”