Limoneira EA 1: Council, Planning
Commission joint meeting Tuesday

February 13, 2015
Santa Paula News

It will be a rare joint meeting for the City Council and the Planning Commission when they consider amendments to the Limoneira Co. East Area 1 Specific Plan Tuesday evening.

The February 17 meeting, moved back one day due to the Presidents’ Day Holiday, will be held at City Hall, 970 E. Ventura St. starting at 6:30 p.m. 

The meeting will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Channel 10 and replayed per schedule; it will also be live-streamed on the city website and archived for viewing on demand.

The joint session will consider changes to the Specific Plan for the development east of Santa Paula where 1,500 residential units will be built east of Hallock Drive and north of Highway 126.

Voters approved the East Area 1 development in 2008.

Changes to be considered by the joint panel include increasing the number of homes completed from 500 to 750 units to trigger construction of the sports complex at Santa Paula Creek, but allocates another $1 million to the project and dropping the $1 million Central Park entertainment facility - to be built when the last unit in the Haun Creek neighborhood was completed - in exchange for a “reconfigured” entertainment facility located in the Civic District. The supplemental plan also adds three acres of parks; removes a $100,000 commitment  for a Highway 150 bypass and eliminates a 5-acre-plus civic joint use facility priced at $5 million, funds which the council can later decide the use of.

Fewer homes will be completed to trigger funding for police and fire facility needs. 

Commercial/industrial property has been reduced from 435,000 square feet to 240,000 square feet, a move that is Downtown Santa Paula friendly and will offer more new shopping opportunities in East Area 2 south of Highway 126.

Some changes were required by the land use agency LAFCO such as doubling a “shortfall fund” to $2 million. There won’t be a train stop as the Ventura County Transportation Commission did not support the request and an 11-acre-plus post-secondary education facility did not garner interest from such institutions and was eliminated.

Once the joint panel decides on the changes the Planning Commission will be excused and there will be a regular council meeting.

The council will be asked via the Consent Calendar to approve an MOU with the Santa Paula Unified School District, which is picking up the tab for a $30,000-plus traffic study.

The council will also hear an update on the mid-year budget as well as details about the new Heritage Valley Transit Service a.k.a. Valley Express, which will bring two fixed daily bus routes to Santa Paula in March. 

City Hall is located at 970 E. Ventura St.





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