Long debate brings
slow growth vote
By Jesse Phelps

After two-and-a-half hours of debate, input, tweaking, listening and re-tweaking, the council voted in a narrow 3-2 decision to approve a new growth management ordinance. And in the end, after all the hoopla, the ordinance passed exactly as drafted by city attorney Monte Widders.

The new 10-year plan, like the original drafted in 1979 and in effect until 2000, puts stringent limits on the numbers of single- and multi-family residences that could be constucted every year within city limits. Per year, only 12 single-family and four multi-family residences could be allocated. It also exempts senior and low-income housing projects from those limits.

In addition, Widders said, he designed the new plan to take into account yearly population and density changes.

Just two weeks ago, the planning commission approved the ordinance unanimously, though there was some debate about an idea put forth by commissioner Paul Blatz to borrow housing allocations from future years for any approved senior and low-income housing complexes with more than the generally allowed allocable units.

The idea resulted in a motion by Craig Brown recommending that the council allow staff to track and measure unused allocations against exempted projects and explore the practice of borrowing allocations from future years to account for units used for those projects.

On Tuesday, this concept found its primary advocate in council member David Bury, who also suggested a cautionary addendum. "If we use the borrowing concept, I'd like to see a cap on how far ahead we can borrow," said Bury.

Bury suggested that a borrowing system should also limit the number of allocations that might be used from any given future year. An example he used stipulated a cap of five out of the 12 total single-family allocations that could be borrowed for a senior housing project.

But other members of the council were lukewarm at best regarding a borrowing system. Councilwoman Carol Smith advocated a return to banking unused units from a given year and only approving projects that fit within the unused allocations from years past.

Though not part of the original ordinance, council and planning had been using the banking system for years to keep control of construction. Still, all involved confirmed that construction has never kept pace with even the limited number of allocations available.
But Councilwoman Rae Hanstad said she "would feel nervous about banking or borrowing from the future without far more information."

Community development director Robert Casias concurred and cautioned council that they might actually, saying, "You could have a de facto moratorium (on new developments), whether you want one or not."

In the end, despite much discussion about the banking and borrowing ideas, an eloquent list of suggestion from citizen Bill Miley and a caveat from Citizens to Preserve the Ojai regarding the valley's air quality problems - they introduced several charts showing that Ojai is by far the least healthy airshed in the county - council decided to get something on the books now, rather than wait to revise.

A concerned Miley had suggested building in elements that would ease the housing situation for younger and less wealthy residents of the valley and limiting the terms to coincide with the renewal of the housing element of the general plan.

Feeling that revisions of various elements would benefit the plan, Smith and Bury voted no. Mayor Joe DeVito, Mayor Pro-Tempore Sue Horgan and Hanstad gave their approval. "I like the conservative approach taken by Mr. Widders and (environmental consultant) John Jostes," said DeVito. "I've been concerned during this time with no growth management plan."

After the vote was finished, DeVito acknowledged the hard work put in by all and said, "I think we've set an all-time record for discussion of a single item."

But council wasn't finished. Now zipping through the remainer of the agenda minus Hanstad, who said she wasn't feeling well, they unanimously approved several other items. These included the use of $8,000 in library parcel tax funding for new books and materials and the combining of the two regularly scheduled November meetings into one to be held on Nov. 18.

In addition, the city manager's department redistributed a final version of the city council goals and strategic plan. Several additions were approved, including one that came up in discussions about the growth management plan. Thanks to input and discussion surrounding Ojai's air quality, council determined that it will formulate its own study to determine how to attack the problem.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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