Monday: Joint Council, PC session
on East Area 1 project continued
December 12, 2014
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
With new elected officials, a change in some plans and questions regarding a supplemental report Limoneira Co. has asked that the joint City Council and Planning Commission hearing on East Area 1 be delayed.
At the now continued meeting, initially scheduled for Monday, Limoneira was going to seek approval of an East Area 1 Specific Plan Amendment and the Master Tentative Map as well as certification of the Supplemental Final EIR for the East Area 1 development.
The approximately 540-acre East Area 1, located north of Highway 126, is targeted for 1,500 residential units, about 25,000 square feet of retail/commercial, parks, schools and other amenities.
The new timeframe for the meeting, said Limoneira representative Mike Penrod of Parkstone Inc., is February.
The request by the company to delay the hearing is “Based on three factors... we have a new council majority,” that is being updated and met with separately to go over aspects of the plan, now about 10 years in the making.
Secondly, Penrod said homebuilders have been interviewed and a decision should be made in coming months.
Penrod said the third reason for the continuance is two letters questioning the development’s supplemental EIR.
When it comes to the newly elected officials Council members Jenny Crosswhite and Ginger Gherardi and Mayor John Procter, Penrod said, “We’re going to hold off getting the development agreement until the new council sees what’s really important to the community now,” and if any changes are sought since 2008 when voters overwhelmingly approved the project.
Penrod said priorities when it comes to development amenities and Santa Paula’s future costs for same have to be considered, “Not decisions Limoneira makes but decisions made by the city.”
Homebuilders have been interviewed from a list of about 40 that showed an interest in the development and Penrod said the selection has not yet been finalized.
“We have four very, very strong entities that made proposals to us, our top four candidates, and we think by the February timeframe we’ll have our choice to help us build.”
Having to make that final decision is a refreshing turn of events for Penrod, who noted, “We had all the people telling us during the Great Recession that we were crazy, but now they’ve been knocking down the door. Lastly, the supplemental EIR drew some comments that were a surprise in more ways than one.
“The comment period closed about two weeks ago and we had no comments from any official agency that caused us any concern,” but rather several letters of commendation from those who had initially questioned impacts from and aspects of the project.
The supplemental EIR did draw a letter from the Sierra Club regarding storm water runoff that Penrod said Ventura County already has tight regulations that the Limoneira project adheres to.
The Wishtoyo Foundation sent a letter just under the deadline for the comment period regarding steelhead trout.
Their concern, said Penrod, is copper levels that might leave the Limoneira property during storm events and enter Santa Paula Creek that would impact the endangered fish, the focus of numerous lawsuits against many entities over the years.
“We’re still examining that,” although Penrod said runoff would not enter Santa Paula Creek and property copper levels are not a concern, an issue he noted that could have been brought up years ago when the original EIR was completed.
“We’ll examine those issues, work closely with city staff and council to come up with the best things they do want to see in East Area 1 and continue the builder selection process. The only changes we made is we took most of the commercial aspect out,” and moved it across Highway 126 to Limoneira East Area 2 property.
“The project will be better and have a much stronger kickoff with a regional center, rather than neighborhood shopping... we’re not competing with Santa Paula’s downtown and its restaurants,” as well as the specialized retail that is expected to fill storefronts in the historic business district as the Limoneira project provides new housing.
