Our next East Ventura Community Council meeting is May 19
Currently scheduled for our May 19 meeting at 7 p.m. is Meredith Hart, the City of Ventura’s new Economic Development Manager. Ventura’s Economic Development Division is one of six divisions housed within the City Manager’s Department. Economic Development staff work in partnership with the business community to support the creation of revenues from which community benefits are realized.
Meredith was formerly the city’s Safe and Clean Program Manager and worked with the homeless population.
We will also have an informational presentation on Measures A & B, which are on the June 7 primary ballot. We will hear from speakers on both sides of the measures which will further regulate oil drilling in the unincorporated areas of Ventura County.
As usual, we will also have our local police report and we hope to hear from area councilmembers as well.
We will continue meeting on the Zoom platform for now. Our members tell us this format is more convenient for them.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83911247426?pwd=b0V2TzhqdzJyQkRvV2NuUE9yM0ZDdz09
Meeting ID: 839 1124 7426
Passcode: 162400
By phone:
+1 669 900 6833
We meet online on the third Thursday of the month
Join the East Ventura Community Council on Zoom.
View our April meeting
City planning staff rejects proposal for Wells and Darling once again
Citing its incompatibility with the Saticoy Village Specific Plan which envisioned “sit-down restaurants and retail with an emphasis on forming high-quality public spaces oriented to the pedestrian,” Ventura city planning staff has once again rejected the Ashdon project on Wells and Darling roads in East Ventura.
The project is a new commercial shopping center consisting of seven buildings including a gas station with a car wash, commercial spaces, a day care center, 10 residential units, and two fast-food drive-through restaurants on a 4.7-acre site. The developer submitted another proposal in June of 2020, which was also not recommended for approval.
“The proposed project does not incorporate the neighborhood goals from the Specific Plan because of the combination of uses that are far from the intent for the site,” the letter to the applicant says. “The two fast food drive-throughs, gas station, and car wash combined with a daycare and ground floor residential are in conflict [with a] pedestrian oriented development. Staff does not support all of the vehicle-oriented uses condensed into the site and believes that this project does not meet the intent or regulations set forth in the Specific Plan.”
Among other issues, staff cited numerous health and safety concerns associated with siting a day care in a heavily trafficked area. They pointed out that a car wash is not an allowed use in the area and they had numerous issues with architectural design, vehicle safety, parking and circulation.
As such, staff will not be supporting the project as proposed until significant changes are made. The letter can be found here.
The East Ventura Community Council concurs with staff findings. After numerous meetings with the community, the consensus has always been that the auto-oriented development does not bring the sorts of amenities the far east end is lacking, such as a full-service grocery store and healthy eating choices in walkable areas. We support the goals of the Saticoy Village Specific Plan and hope the developer will follow the lead of the planning document in which his parcel resides.
We thank staff for their diligent work in looking after the needs of the community.