Officials consider the development of 600-acre site
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

The Camarillo City Council took its first extensive look earlier this month at a swath of land to be considered for development south of the 101 Freeway between Conejo and Calleguas creeks.

The 602-acre parcel is the largest undeveloped chunk of land left in the city.

A majority of the Conejo Creek properties, divided into six pieces of land owned by five families, is farmland within city limits. The City Council recently visited parts of the property during a July 16 field trip led by the owners' consultant, Dennis Hardgrave of Development Planning Services in Camarillo, and the city's community development director, Bob Burrow.

"This is the last big parcel in Camarillo, and we need it planned well," Mayor Charlotte Craven said. "I think it looks like a good project. At some point in the future, something will happen there."

After the city insisted that the Conejo Creek properties be developed at the same time, the Hiji, Reiter, Stuart, Brucker and Adamson families came together to devise a unified plan. At this point, Burrow said the city will move forward by conducting an environmental impact report. The owners will reimburse Camarillo for the report.

Some council members wanted to approach the project with greater caution.

"The EIR is somewhat premature until we kind of get a better feel for the benefits versus the challenges to that piece of property," Councilmember Kevin Kildee said. "We get only one bite at the apple, and I want to make sure we have exactly the type of project where we get the greatest amount of comfort."

City Manager Jerry Bankston said at the study session that "an EIR is the next step. Everything needs to be studied."

Although most of the land is zoned for agriculture, a small portion of the Hiji property in the east is zoned for office and light manufacturing/research development. An industrial park between Adohr Lane and Calle Quetzal, sits in the middle of the undeveloped land.

Farmland cannot be developed unless there are public benefits. The owners of Conejo Creek properties have proposed 35 acres of parkland, a community center and public lake front property for potential community benefits.

"The challenge for them is that if it is going to be converted, you obviously have to improve the property," Burrow said. "You also have to look at solutions that would benefit the area nearby as well. So it's not just about making things work, but making things better."

Hardgrave discussed some other features of the Conejo Creek properties, including potential housing developments centered around man-made lakes.

Burrow estimated that the land would likely be developed between 2015 and 2020. The community development director, who has worked for Camarillo for 31 years, said that this project is "probably the largest one that I have done with the city."

The biggest concern with the land is that much of it sits in a flood plain. Part of the southern portion of Conejo Creek bypass channel must be widened, and Craven thinks that will take a tremendous amount of time and energy to fix.

"Nothing can happen until you solve the flooding problem," Hardgrave said.