New plans may alter
Ojai's look
By Jesse Phelps

It's not only conceivable, but likely, that an Ojai resident could walk through downtown two years from now and see a whole host of new buildings and other attractions dotting the landscape.

This resident might park, if space allows, at the lot where the Farmers' Market sets up on Sundays and walk to the corner of Montgomery and Aliso.

There, just across from Chaparral High School, could stand a nine-suite "extended-stay" hotel with a majestic tower facing the schoolyard and an interior courtyard encompassing a massive oak tree. Across the street, at the classic church building known as Nordhoff Hall, a yoga retreat could be in session, or perhaps a wedding party might emerge.

Up Ojai Avenue a bit, it's less likely, but still within the realm of possibility, that a multilevel craftsman's complex (home to a regular street-side artisan's faire) will stand on Fulton Street, which will now extend past the Avenue to meet up with Bryant Circle.

And there on Bryant, two years from now, new "affordable" housing could flank a large storage facility housing recreational vehicles and forgotten furniture adjacent to the Humane Society.

This vision for the near future has been brought to you from the chambers occupied by the Ojai Planning Commission, which on Wednesday night reviewed plans in various stages for all this and more. Most of above items still lingered somewhere between the concept and the architectural phases. With varying degrees of enthusiasm, the commission allowed each of them to proceed.

The self-storage facility was undergoing its third trip through the concept review stage, having lost out last time on the grounds that it was too large and needed to incorporate at least one other use, which turned out to be, potentially, affordable housing.

Applicant William B. Kendall returned with new plans that split the lot, condensing the storage and creating a 1.82-1.99-acre panhandle-shaped second parcel, which "may or may not include" apartments adjacent to the Whispering Oaks retirement community.
The size was determined because any parcel under two acres is exempt from California environmental review.

Planners were impressed that Kendall had so quickly integrated changes from the last meeting on June 4, including working in the suggestions of citizens and the housing authority for the residential section.

"We took your comments to heart," he said.

They also expressed amazement at the "magic" way Kendall had squeezed roughly the same amount of storage into a much smaller lot.
The original design consisted of 74,020 square feet of storage and approximately 67 parking spaces for recreational vehicles. The new plans show 73,975 square feet of storage and 62 recreational vehicle parking spaces.

A number of speakers came forth, including concerned citizen Stan Greene, who argued that to size the housing parcel based on a desire not to do environmental review was "the tail wagging the dog."
The ubiquitous Bill Miley suggested planners extend the timeframe allowable to the Housing Authority to create plans for the new housing beyond two years.

Commission chair Tucker Adams agreed with the extended timeframe for the housing and suggested that the access drive from Bryant Street be widened to accommodate some landscape buffering from the storage facility. "I'd like to see a real street, not an alley," she said, a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Paul Blatz.

Commissioner Ynez Arce expressed concern about the increase in density, saying she'd like to see the project be 10 to 15 percent smaller, more truly "assessing the needs of the community."

Commissioner Craig Brown echoed her sentiment, adding that he'd like to see more storage for the recreational vehicles.

In the end, the body seemed content with the direction taken by Kendall.

"I think we're heading toward a really good project," said commissioner John Mirk.

The extended stay hotel also received encouraging feedback from the commissioners, whose main complaint was the tower height.
Architect Steven Foster said it would not be a problem to lower the tower.

Miley concurred with the commission, saying he didn't approve of a "non-functional" structure that blocks views from the street. He also wondered why Foster didn't seem worried about problems occurring on the block.

The issue Miley was referring to was the parking crunch for some downtown residents, due, they claimed, to workers and event-goers at a meeting hall and offices in the recently remodeled classic church at the corner of Montgomery and Aliso.

The evening's deliberations included discussion and adoption of a resolution permanently extending a conditional use permit to one Michael McFerrin, who runs the operation, over objections voiced by three neighbors.

Cathy Bautista owns a home next door and brought several complaints before the commission, saying that "noise and parking have both been problems" and that several neighbors and tenants had already moved.
One of Bautista's current tenants, Misty Forbes, said that the people working in the offices park in front of her house daily. "If I leave," she said, "They move right in."

But the commission didn't seem impressed with the comments, mainly because Bautista had not lodged any formal complaints in the two years since McFerrin was originally granted the conditional use permit that allows him to hold events in the building.

A solution of sorts already exists. An ordinance was created around the same time that McFerrin was granted his permit to allow permitted parking in Ojai. The plan was to give residents of the neighborhood parking permits and signposts were installed. The signs, however, never went up.

Community Development Director Robert Casias said that Doug Breeze, the city's new Public Works Director, is looking at that problem. Breeze, out of town for the evening, was unavailable for comment.
Ultimately, the commission granted a permanent extension of the permit with the additional requirement that McFerrin issue a one-time notification to neighboring owners with directives on how to lodge complaints.

Oddly, this did not make him happy. After the commission explained that they could reopen that matter and reconsider everything, including the permit extension, McFerrin elected to walk with his partial victory.

The commission also granted a conditional use permit extension to Len Mann, owner of several parcels on Fulton Street, which he envisions as the craftsman's complex. Local architect Marc Whitman has designs but nothing can be done without a clean bill of health from the state.

The site has a history of toxic waste, which Mann insists has been regularly monitored and cleaned up. The commission granted him another year to organize.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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