Judge halts Los Arboles
by C.A. Gilman

In a five-page opinion, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Melinda Johnson has kicked out the environmental review report for the 23-unit Los Arboles condo project and sent it back to the drawing board.
Stan Greene, administrative director of the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, said he was overjoyed with the results of the court's finding to halt the Los Arboles project. And though the judge wrote, "The city can only approve the project if it complies with all elements of the city's General Plan. It does not do so." City Attorney Monte Widders said he, too, was pleased for the most part.
The CPO and Environmental Coalition of Ventura had sued the city of Ojai to stop the Los Arboles project, claiming it didn't adhere to certain guidelines of the Ojai General Plan. These included density, traffic, air quality, zoning and architecture.
Widders said, "Most of the CPO's objectives are without foundation. They always argued that the Los Arboles project didn't fit in Ojai."
The judge's ruling found that the project was under the maximum density guideline of eight units per acre (the Los Arboles project design is for 7.79 units per acre): that its effect on air quality is consistent with the General Plan; and that its architecture was not inconsistent with the General Plan. However, she did question the developer's need for a high-density project to be profitable; the zoning variance of 25 feet between buildings; and the certification of the subsequent Environmental Impact Report despite deficiences in its dealings with traffic impacts.
Widders added, "We need to clarify some traffic issues, and give more evidence that fewer homes would make the project economically unfeasible. The variance is not an issue because the project is now consistent with the city zoning," (which changed the separation between maximum allowable density between buildings from 45 feet to 25 feet.)
"There also needs to be a clarification of traffic mitigation plans. We don't have to go back to court to fix these."
Widders added, "In the 23 years I have been counsel for the city, I have never had anyone sue the city before (re: the number of suits filed by the CPO) this year."
The judge also handed down a sanction to the city to pay the CPO $2,498 for three causes: she said there was no reason to exclude the record from the prior lawsuit, the record was incomplete and and the city "improperly attempted to augment the record" after the CPO filed its second brief.
Greene said, "What's important is that the council and the people should be talking and listening to each other better. Lawsuits should be the last resort. Hopefully for the future, we'll all be working together for the good of the community."

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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