PIRU : Residents Question Low-Income Project

About 30 Piru homeowners reacted with skepticism and concern Wednesday night to a proposal to locate low-income housing, including some build-it-yourself homes, in their community.

Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. is seeking to develop 70 to 80 homes on Main Street, between California 126 and Via Fustero, which would include some residences built by the owners themselves. Officials have not yet decided how many residences would be built with sweat equity.

“People worry about new people coming in and they feel protective toward this community,” said Mary Berrington, co-chairwoman of the Valley Advisory Committee in Piru. “The county guidelines say there shouldn’t be any more people without proper services. But the people they’ll bring in need the most services.”

Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. passed out questionnaires at Wednesday night’s meeting in Warring Park to measure interest in the low-income housing project. Cabrillo is also planning to measure community interest through a door-to-door survey within the next few weeks. Piru residents who are not homeowners would be given first chance at purchasing the houses.

“We want to do a community survey. We’re not sure there is interest on their part,” said Rodney Fernandez, executive director of the nonprofit Saticoy agency that helps develop low-income housing throughout the county. “We want as many self-help houses as we can. It’s the best vehicle to get home ownership into the hands of working people.”

Fernandez said he is planning another community meeting in about a month.

The project would be built on two five-acre lots that are now zoned for agricultural use, which requires Cabrillo to obtain a General Plan amendment from the county. Fernandez said Cabrillo already has an “agreement to purchase the property.”

In February, Cabrillo representatives went before the Ventura County Board of Supervisors as part of a screening process before consideration of a General Plan amendment.

Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee, whose district includes Piru, asked the board to delay the decision until Piru residents have been briefed about the project. The supervisor said earlier Wednesday that she would ask the Piru Neighborhood Council Board for its opinion of the project.