Residents oppose Conejo Creek Development
By Logan McFadden
The Camarillo City Council and Planning Commission held a second joint public hearing Wednesday evening, August 27th. The hearing provided an opportunity 
for comments from the public on the proposed Conejo Creek project. The Council Chamber was packed and residents stood outside to watch the hearing on a live TV feed. In all, several hundred people attended the hearing. Many wore stickers that said “Save Open Spaces (SOS): Stop Conejo Creek Development”. For background information, please refer to the article in the 8/22/14 issue of the ACORN HERE.
The Conejo Creek project proposes to re-zone 895 acres of agricultural land to residential, commercial and industrial. The development is bordered by the U.S. 101 freeway, the Santa Monica Mountains and Pleasant Valley Road. The development, as proposed, would be a community consisting of new retail stores along the 101 Freeway, 1.7 million square feet of commercial and industrial space, an elementary school, about 1,825 apartments and condos, 675 single-family houses, 44 acres of parks and a man-made lake.
The purpose of the public hearing was to give residents the opportunity to comment on the re-drafted environmental report written by Ventura-based Rincon Consultants. The revised draft addressed over 500 comments from the community. Based upon the public’s verbal comments at the 8/27/14 public hearing and written comments that will be received by September 20, 2014, Rincon will then prepare the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR). Comments and responses will be included in the FEIR. Comments can be sent by email to [email protected]. Once completed, the FEIR will be
reviewed by the five member Planning Commission and forwarded to the City Council with a recommendation on whether or not to approve the FEIR. Councilmember Charlotte Craven emphasized that the City Council would first consider certification of the FEIR based upon the recommendation. If the Council certifies the FEIR at a future meeting, the process would continue until the Council takes a separate vote to either approve or deny the entire project. To date, the five property owners applying for re-zoning have borne the full cost of preparing the draft environmental impact report said to be over $750,000.
Forty-six residents spoke during the public hearing. All were in opposition to the proposed development. The crowd was in agreement and applauded after several of the residents spoke. Several speakers referred to the City’s motto, “The People are the City”. It was pointed out that the development could be approved by three of the five City Councilmembers. One resident said that the magnitude and impact of this decision should warrant a vote of the people. If not a vote, then a Referendum should the City Council ultimately approve the project. Many of the speakers addressed the same issues. Collectively, the crowd expressed frustration that the project still is being considered since first being proposed in 2006. Three individuals criticized the re-drafted environmental report as incomplete or inaccurate. The City’s General Plan states that before agricultural land can be re-zoned there must be a demonstrated benefit to the city. One resident stated that “providing more housing is not a community benefit”.
This hearing did not specifically address benefits to Camarillo. Rincon Consultants presented the mitigations proposed for some of the major issues addressed in the over 500 comments it received from the first round of public comments. One objective of the environmental impact study is to determine the consequences of the project and its effect on Camarillo’s future. The report includes several Class 1 impacts to the environment which cannot be mitigated. For example, loss of agricultural land cannot be mitigated because the project will destroy the land as currently utilized to develop the proposed project. Class 1 issues are considered significant and unavoidable.
Following are the major issues raised by the residents:
Already congested traffic on the 101 Freeway and major surface streets would only become more gridlocked. There are approved developments in the pipeline 
and an expected increase of 19,000 students attending California State University, Channel Islands which will add to the number of daily car trips. The environmental report states that the developer would pay for the addition of a fourth lane, along the northbound 101 Freeway between Santa Rosa Road and the Springville interchange. Many questioned the feasibility of coordinating with Caltrans’ master plan for the 101 as well as actually coming up with the money to pay for widening the freeway. One speaker jokingly suggested that the freeway money should be placed in escrow before any project work commenced, if approved by the City Council. Another said the environmental impact report does not incorporate the impact of already approved developments in the pipeline and the effect of pedestrian traffic.
The drought has already required a Stage II water alert. The paramount question put to the Council was “where is the water for indoor consumption going to come from?” The existing goal is to reduce water usage by 20%. Given this is a long-term project with a phased in development plan that extends from 2020 to 2030 and beyond, is it wise to presume upon the water required to supply the new residents and businesses? During a short recess, one resident commented, using Mark Twain’s famous quip, “whiskey is for drinking, water is worth fighting for.” Another resident stated that there are “portable toilets in front of hotels in Cambria”, implying that Camarillo could one day face a more serious water shortage, including no water when he turns on the shower.
The project encroaches on the Point Mugu Naval air station’s flight corridor. The new residents would most likely complain of aircraft noise which could lead to the Navy closing the base and the community losing over an estimated 19,000 jobs and $2 billion in annual income.
Many residents migrated from the San Fernando Valley to have a better quality of life and leave urban sprawl and air pollution behind them. When coming over the Conejo Grade, one resident said the beautiful view of the open land and mountains says “welcome home”. Many of the residents who spoke at the hearing have lived in Camarillo over 20 years and have seen the suburbanization of the city progressively change the landscape. They said it is time to stop the growth and preserve Camarillo’s unique character. The Council was said to be “pro-growth” and presumably in favor of the proposed development. One resident described city government as having an “insatiable lust for uncontrolled growth”. Unlimited growth was described as a “cancer”. Councilmember Morgan compared Camarillo’s population growth over the past three decades to the much greater growth in neighboring cities. He refuted the negative “pro-growth” connotation as an description of the Council. A representative from the Sierra Club spoke about the inadequacy of the analysis of biological resources and impact on the animal migration corridor. A representative from SOAR (Save Open-Space and Agricultural Resources) said the non-profit organization is opposed to the Conejo Creek project.
Mayor Kildee closed the public hearing and invited comments from the applicant who declined. Also members of the Planning Commission made no comments. However, each Councilmember did opine on the Conejo Creek project. Councilmember Craven said that a vote up or down on the project was the last stage of a long process, specifically the completion of the Final Environment Impact Report and potential certification by the Council. She further commented that based on the city’s General Plan this project is too big and too dense. Councilmember Morgan said that he cannot support the project based upon the second draft environmental report and public comments heard during the public hearing. Vice Mayor Little said that the mitigations are “laughable and inadequate”. He also cited Navy airspace encroachment and the viability of the Navy base remaining open if the re-zoning and development were approved. Mr. Little also said that too many unpredictable things can happen during a long-term project. He said that he cannot support the project based on the information known now. Councilmember MacDonald said “this is not the City’s project”. She said agriculture is important to Camarillo’s economy. She also said that she voted against the Springville development between Ponderosa Drive and the 101 Freeway. When completed, Springville will encompass 173 acres and include 1,300 apartments, condos and houses. The Conejo Creek project is significantly larger. MacDonald said the project is too large and nothing in the environmental report mitigates the significant and unavoidable consequences satisfactorily. She thanked the residents for participating and said the hearing helped her to understand more about the project. Councilmember MacDonald also said that the city does not have to “build on every square inch” and that the city needs to” reserve land for the future” Mayor Kildee said he is not convinced that “the issues can be mitigated”. He described the issues as “monumental”. He expressed that Camarillo is a “wonderful city where people get involved”. He described the city as being 80% built out and stated that every new project must be “thoroughly vetted”.
The residents acknowledged the Councilmembers with applause. As one resident put it, we saw “democracy at work”.
To the read the City’s report on the matter click HERE
Logan McFadden is our newest Citizensjournal.us city reporter and a recently retired banker, residing in Camarillo.
____________________________________________
Get free Citizensjournal.us BULLETINS. Please patronize our advertisers to keep us publishing and/or DONATE.
