CPO turns down offer to settle condo suits
By Jesse Phelps

The Citizens to Preserve the Ojai and the Environmental Defense Coalition have decided not to take an offered $120,000 settlement from Los Arboles luxury condominium developers Lance Smigel and Lois Rice.

In a letter dated March 3, Ivor Benci-Woodward and Stanley Greene of the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai and Russ Baggerly of the Environmental Defense Coalition wrote to Smigel and Rice, saying, "Our organizations are still voicing our objections to the intensity and density of Los Arboles and your offer of cash used offsite will not remedy these problems. We had hoped you would address in some measure our stated concerns and respond with a settlement regarding those issues."

The offer made last week included $40,000 to cover legal fees incurred by the petitioners and another $80,000 earmarked for "community projects on a non-profit basis."
"We tried to create a community benefits fund, organized by the petitioners, to support projects like the hospital, the Help of Ojai - a tremendous organization - and street safety," said Smigel. "A hot issue is the road construction near Matilija Junior High. The money could have been used to bridge the gap there and make that happen.

But Benci-Woodward stressed again that the issue is the future of Ojai, not funds for his organization. "We've asked from the very beginning is that all they do is comply with the Ojai General Plan," said Benci-Woodward. "Some people believe that we don't want to build anything, anywhere. We've always supported a reduced intensity project on that property."

Smigel said, "We're very disappointed. We feel very badly that they felt we were trying to buy the opposition off. That wasn't what we were trying to do. We waited until we got the partial ruling, which allowed us to continue construction. We felt that was a big indicator that we'd prevail in court."
"At that point, we felt that they had nothing to gain but delay," he continued. "We made the offer in an attempt to give them something for the community and avoid the delay. We waited so they wouldn't have to give up their principles to take the offer. It seems like a personal issue with them to cost us as much as possible.

Benci-Woodward says his organization continues to see the Los Arboles as " the project that's going to change Ojai forever. It put the automobile first again. The village mixed-use zone was meant to promote live-work buildings. The idea to have it that way was to cut out the automobile because you lived where you work. Part and parcel of that was that the people living there would be able to pedal or walk to town relatively easily."

Benci-Woodward claims that the city changed zoning requirements for two-story buildings. "Instead of 45 feet apart, now they can be 25 feet apart in the central 60 acres of the city," he said. "The intent of the general plan is to provide the central core of the city with zoning that will allow bicycle and pedestrian pathways between buildings. The Los Arboles project's design required that there be no space between buildings. We're trying to foster alternatives to the use of automobiles around town. We want to promote pedestrian and bicycle modes of transportation to relieve the traffic congestion."

Ojai city councilwoman Rae Hanstad said she believes the petitioning organizations are making a mistake to turn down money that could be used for other, more worthy projects.
"I thought it was a very generous offer," said Hanstad. "It was a great opportunity for the CPO to take $80,000 and put it toward some positive projects. The CPO had a chance to put money where their mouths were and they declined."

Smigel agreed. "It seems as though the petitioners would rather spend our money having us defeat them in court. We're continuing with construction out of pocket. The bottom line is, the project complies with CEQA and it complies with the General Plan. It's going to be built."

But Benci-Woodward intimated that his organization was ready to keep fighting. "The CPO will take a vote tonight whether to appeal the judge's decision when it is made public," said Benci-Woodward. "There's a general feeling that we may want to take it all the way (to the State Supreme Court). It's a good case, it really is. It's an important turning point for Ojai."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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