Measures Resurrects Ventura Land-Swap Deal

VENTURA —  Only seven months after voters approved a greenbelt-preservation measure, Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures has resurrected the controversial land-swap deal that launched last year’s initiative to protect Ventura’s vanishing farmland.

She wants to place a measure on the Nov. 5 ballot that would amend the farmland protection law by allowing houses to be built on an 87-acre, city-owned lemon orchard in east Ventura.

Under the plan, the city would swap its property at Telegraph Road and Petit Avenue for cash and land of similar acreage that could become part of a regional park. The City Council will discuss the proposal Monday night.

“It simply asks the voters to approve a quality-of-life [improvement] that would provide a land exchange and money that would bring a regional park,” Measures said Friday.

But critics said the councilwoman’s plan would erode their quality of life by covering a swath of agricultural land with tract homes. More houses, they argue, would congest traffic and further crowd east Ventura schools.

“She does not care what the citizens in Ventura want,” said resident Sheri Vincent, who lives in a housing tract near the city orchards. “She is relentless to fulfill a campaign goal. It’s despicable. Believe me, it’s going to be a big, huge fight.”

Measures’ proposal is almost identical to a deal presented two years ago by developer Ron Hertel, who offered to trade 92 acres of farmland at Telephone and Kimball roads for the city property. Hertel contributed to Measures’ election campaign in 1993.

To sweeten his offer to the city, Hertel promised $2 million toward construction of the park. In exchange, he wanted permission to build 437 houses on the city-owned lemon and avocado groves. It is not clear how many new houses could be built on the land under the Measures initiative.

The first proposal infuriated nearby residents such as Vincent. The land swap served as the catalyst for the so-called Save Our Agricultural Resources initiative on last year’s ballot.

Measure I was narrowly approved after a fierce campaign between slow-growth activists and a coalition of farmers and business interests.

The new law, which went into effect in January, prohibits development on farmland in and around the city until the year 2030 unless the voters decide otherwise.

If the council agrees to place the new initiative on the November ballot, it would mark the first time a project has been taken directly to the voters in Ventura.

Although a majority of the council members supported the land swap when it was presented two years ago, city leaders said Friday that the timing of the new deal is poor.

“I don’t know really what she is trying to do,” Mayor Jack Tingstrom said. “But the word ‘swap’ is telling me it is going to be real hard to do.”

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With east Ventura schools overcrowded, development on hold and voters disenchanted with the gradual loss of the city’s rural character, critics say the proposal may face too many challenges.

“These kids may get a park, but where are they going to go to school?” Vincent asked. School officials recently made the unpopular decision to send 200 east Ventura students to Ventura High School because of classroom overcrowding at Buena High School, which is miles closer to their homes.

“With the school situation, I don’t think it is going to pass,” Vincent said. “People don’t want any more houses.”

But east-end residents have been pushing for an eastside regional park for years, and Measures’ plan would allow that high-priced goal to be realized.

“The city has a need for a service-area park, a large park that would have a variety of recreational things like a lighted softball park and soccer fields,” said Everett Millais, the city’s director of community services. “We have never had the funds.”

The 87 acres has been appraised at $1.7 million as agricultural land. But if the city were to rezone it for a 400-unit subdivision, the land would be worth $14 million, city planner Mitch Oshinsky wrote in a memorandum to the city manager earlier this year.

The city is now earning $1 a year on the land because officials negotiated a cheap lease a decade ago after discovering that trees were unproductive.

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But city leaders say the property could generate millions if the right deal is brokered and the land exempted from the farmland-preservation law.

“There are a lot of opportunities that this site provides,” Measures said.

Councilman Steve Bennett and attorney Richard Francis--the authors of the greenbelt measure--said Friday they were not surprised by Measures’ proposed initiative. And they agreed that if the right proposal is negotiated, the land-swap idea might benefit Ventura.

“If we can sell the land for $14 million and use those proceeds to build a great east-end park, then it would strike me as a great deal,” Bennett said.

But the way the initiative is now worded--without naming the proposed park site, developer, sale price, or the number of homes proposed for development--it would be dangerously vague, said Francis, the former city mayor.

“I think the reason for the [greenbelt-protection] vote is that the city’s voters don’t trust the elected officials,” Francis said. The voters, he said, “want to sign off on whatever the particular deal is.”

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Proposed Swap

Ventura City Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures wants to place an initiative on the November ballot that would amend the city’s farmland-protection law and allow a land swap of 87 acres of city-owned farmland with a similarly-sized parcel in east Ventura. The proposal would allow the development of a regional park on the Telephone Road site.

Sources: Ventura city attorney, Ventura City Planning Division; Researched by KEN WEISS and TRACY WILSON / Los Angeles Times