City to issue $29 million in redevelopment bonds
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Wanting to recreate the success of Old Town's redevelopment elsewhere in Camarillo and add more housing for low-income residents, the City Council last week approved issuing $29 million in bonds.

Funds raised from the sale of a $10-million bond will infuse money into city housing programs that provide grants and loans for remodeling or building lowincome housing.

A $19-million bond will fund road, bridges and other infrastructure improvements to attract commerce to areas of the city outside of downtown.

City Manager Jerry Bankston said such programs typically are funded in this manner. Instead of the city depositing money it gets based on property tax increases into a savings account each year and waiting until there's enough to fund a project, it can raise money now by issuing a bond or two and paying off the debt with the annual revenue, he said.

"It's better able to provide for more program help than if we waited 10, 12 years, because of the cost of construction, the cost of land," Bankston said.

The next step is to sell the bonds through investment houses, he said.

Over the next few years the City Council will decide the amounts and which of the housing programs already in place will be funded, Bankston said.

City Councilmember Kevin Kildee said the state structures redevelopment programs in such a way that requires cities to incur debt, such as bonds, in order to put the money to use.

Similar bonds funded capital improvements to Ventura Boulevard in Old Town, which is in its third phase of construction. Kildee pointed to new restaurants along the street as proof such programs generally transform a once lackluster area into a thriving business community.

"It's a catalyst for redevelopment, if you will," Kildee said.

Redevelopment dollars could help remodel the business area between Ponderosa and Daily drives and Arneill Road and Mobil Avenue, especially the tentatively named Camarillo Commons-the two shopping centers at Ponderosa Drive and Arneill Road.

As for its supply of low-income housing, the city is in compliance with government requirements but finds it more difficult to meet the needs of residents in the very-low income bracket, because the city has to subsidize much more of the housing costs, Kildee said.

The city and the Area Housing Authority of Ventura County expect to start construction on lowincome apartments at Ponderosa Drive and Calle La Roda by spring.