City Seeks Public Input on Design

The city recently equipped a group of students and a cross-section of Ventura residents with disposable cameras and asked them to snap their favorite city sites. Now the pictures are in and it’s time to talk design.

Residents are invited to air their aesthetic preferences Wednesday at a design guidelines workshop. The event, which will be held at 7 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room (202) at City Hall, 501 Poli St., is the second gathering to discuss design standards for the city.

At the last meeting, a city planner and two San Luis Obispo-based design consultants handed out 20 of the cameras to residents, as well as assigning photo duties to 20 Cabrillo Middle School students, in an effort to probe their likes and dislikes.

Associate planner Maura Macaluso says the snapshots reveal some patterns. Generally people like the Art Deco style of the Firestone Building, on the corner of Thompson and California Street. People do not like vacant lots, garbage and chain-link fences.

“Overall, people seemed to like buildings with a nostalgic city-of-Ventura look to them,” said Macaluso, adding that the upcoming meeting promises to be interactive and lively.